Air Strikes across Syria amid Deadly Clashes

Syria's air force dropped deadly explosive-filled barrels on several rebel-held areas across the embattled country on Saturday, a monitoring group said.

After battles with the army that have lasted several weeks, rebels seized control of Hamdan airport in the eastern town of Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzor province on the border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Most of the army's air strikes targeted Idlib province in the northwest, Aleppo in the north and Damascus province. All three provinces are home to highly organized rebel groups.

In southern Damascus, four civilians were killed when the Palestinian Yarmuk camp was shelled, said the Observatory, although it did not specify whether the army or rebels were behind the bombardment.

Clashes also raged in the nearby district of Tadamun, where anti-regime sentiment is strong, the Britain-based watchdog said.

Warplanes also buzzed the Eastern Ghuta area, east of Damascus, said the Observatory, as regime forces cut off several roads leading to the capital.

In Albu Kamal, the fighting ended when rebels took control of Hamdan airport on the Iraqi border.

Syria's military had used the agricultural airport as a base for helicopter gunships. Rebels seized several tanks and mortars that the army had stored there.

"The rebels now control large swathes of land in the area," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.

"The army has lost control of practically all the eastern border area, barring the Mayadeen military base" some 50 kilometers northwest of Albu Kamal, Abdel Rahman said.

In Aleppo, two rebels were killed in fighting, and regime forces launched several air strikes on towns near the embattled city, including Hreitan and Anadan, said the Observatory.

The air force also struck the strategic town of Maaret al-Numan, which rebels captured on October 9, and which lies on the road linking Damascus to Aleppo.

Despite near-daily air strikes and combat on the town's edges, the army has been unable to recapture it.

At least 18 people were killed across Syria on Saturday, according to a preliminary count compiled by the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers for its information.

More than 39,000 people have been killed in violence nationwide since the outbreak of an anti-regime revolt in March last year, the Observatory said.