Barrel bomb attacks in Syria's Aleppo kill 25 - monitoring group

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 25 people were killed in barrel bomb attacks in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Monday, a monitoring group said. Barrel bomb attacks are strikes in which helicopters drop highly destructive improvised explosives. Western powers have condemned their use as a war crime, but they continue to be used almost every day in Aleppo and other parts of Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday afternoon's strikes occurred in the al-Sukkari neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, now divided between government and rebel forces. At least two children and one woman were among the dead, as were two men from a local governing council, the Observatory said. The toll was expected to rise because there were a number of people seriously wounded in the attack. Over 160,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, which started over three years ago as a peaceful protest movement and became an armed rebellion after a government crackdown. (Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; editing by Ralph Boulton)