Beirut, Dec 16 (IANS)

At least 36 people died, including 15 children, in an air attack by the Syrian military against different neighbourhoods in the northern city of Aleppo, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

According to the group, Syrian army helicopters dropped barrels filled with explosives into the neighbourhoods of Ard al-Hamra, Al Haydariyeh, Al Sakhur and Sheikh Said in Aleppo, killing 15 children, two women and 19 men and wounding scores.

In addition, the armed forces of the Bashar al Assad regime launched a similar attack near Marya Plaza in the same city, causing significant material damage, the source added.

Aleppo was the target of a large offensive by insurgents in late July 2012 as well as other operations thereafter that enabled regime opponents to take over broad portions of the urban area, but they have not been able to take complete control of Syria's second-largest city.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have died in Syria since the start of the internal conflict in March 2011, a figure that the Observatory recently raised to more than 125,000.