Militant mortar fire kills 7 Syrian schoolchildren

Mortar shells fired by the foreign-backed Takfiri militants in Syria have hit residential areas in the province of Hama, killing at least seven children.

The mortar attack targeted an elementary school in Karnaz village in the province on Wednesday.

“All of the martyrs were under 12 years of age,” Syria’s official news agency SANA quoted a medical source as saying.

Four other children also suffered injuries in the deadly attack.

Takfiri militants also shelled a power plant in the city of Hama, causing a fire in it.

Cities and towns across Syria have frequently come under mortar and rocket fire by foreign-sponsored militants since the armed conflict erupted in the Arab country over three years ago.

The attacks have left large numbers of people dead, also inflicting massive damage on Syria’s infrastructure.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group had shelled a camp sheltering people displaced from the volatile Syrian town of Kobani, killing two civilians and injuring four others, including a child.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein has said that more than 200,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict since March 2011.