<div>At least eight children were killed along with their teacher in a Russian air strike that hit a school in Syria's Aleppo province today, a monitor said.<br /><br />The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike in the town of Anjara also injured at least 20 people, all of them children and teachers.<br /><br />The group said there had been heavy air strikes and clashes between government and rebel forces since yesterday in the northern province, which is controlled by a mixture of moderate and Islamist rebels.<br /><br />The Britain-based monitor also reported that three children were killed by rebel rocket fire on a government-held district in Aleppo city.<br /><br />Control of the city has been divided between government forces in the west and rebel fighters in the east since shortly after fighting began there in mid-2012.<br /><br />Government forces regularly carry out air raids on the east, while rebels fire rockets into the west.<br /><br />The situation is largely reversed in the countryside surrounding the city, with rebels controlling much of the area west of Aleppo, and the government present to the east.<br /><br />Russia, a staunch ally of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, began air strikes in support of the central government in late September.<br /><br />It says it is targeting the Islamic State group and other "terrorists," but a third of those killed in its strikes have been civilians, according to the Observatory.<br /><br />The monitor said in late December that Russian air strikes had killed more than 2,300 people since they began on September 30, among them 792 civilians.<br /><br />Moscow has slammed as "absurd" allegations that its strikes have killed civilians. More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. <br /></div>
<div>At least eight children were killed along with their teacher in a Russian air strike that hit a school in Syria's Aleppo province today, a monitor said.<br /><br />The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike in the town of Anjara also injured at least 20 people, all of them children and teachers.<br /><br />The group said there had been heavy air strikes and clashes between government and rebel forces since yesterday in the northern province, which is controlled by a mixture of moderate and Islamist rebels.<br /><br />The Britain-based monitor also reported that three children were killed by rebel rocket fire on a government-held district in Aleppo city.<br /><br />Control of the city has been divided between government forces in the west and rebel fighters in the east since shortly after fighting began there in mid-2012.<br /><br />Government forces regularly carry out air raids on the east, while rebels fire rockets into the west.<br /><br />The situation is largely reversed in the countryside surrounding the city, with rebels controlling much of the area west of Aleppo, and the government present to the east.<br /><br />Russia, a staunch ally of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, began air strikes in support of the central government in late September.<br /><br />It says it is targeting the Islamic State group and other "terrorists," but a third of those killed in its strikes have been civilians, according to the Observatory.<br /><br />The monitor said in late December that Russian air strikes had killed more than 2,300 people since they began on September 30, among them 792 civilians.<br /><br />Moscow has slammed as "absurd" allegations that its strikes have killed civilians. More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. <br /></div>