More than 80 people were killed in a series of Syrian government airstrikes on a marketplace in a rebel-held neighborhood in the capital, Damascus, according to a U.K.-based monitoring group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today that 82 are dead and at least 200 wounded in the attacks in Douma by Syrian warplanes. Civil defense officials in town said the death toll was 100.

"The preliminary information suggests most of the dead are civilians," Abdullah, a local photographer, was quoted by Al-Jazeera as saying.

The BBC says:

"Images of the aftermath of Sunday's strikes show dead bodies lined up on the floor, including some of children.

"Unverified footage uploaded by activists showed a marketplace destroyed, with surrounding buildings in ruins and vehicles on fire."

"This is an official massacre that was carried out deliberately," the Syrian Observatory's Rami Abdurrahman was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.

Abdurrahman was quoted by AP as saying that a total of four missiles were fired into the marketplace and that the death toll was expected to rise because many of the wounded are in critical condition.

The Associated Press says Syrian government air raids on rebel-held areas throughout the country have killed thousands over the past few years.

Al-Jazeera writes:

"A video posted online by activists of the aftermath of the attacks showed an intersection strewn with rubble and twisted metal.

"The fronts of several buildings nearby appeared to have been sheared off by the force of the blasts, and several vehicles were overturned and crumpled amid the rubble."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.