DHAKA: Syrian government air raids have killed at least 42 people in a rebel-held village near Damascus.

Activists and a group monitoring the violence have said, Al Jazeera reports on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported a ‘massacre’ against the village of Hamoriyah in eastern Ghouta area on Friday, as at least 42 people, including six children were killed.

The Britain-based watchdog said government helicopters dropped five barrel bombs on the village.

According to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a grassroots network of opponents of the government, one of the air strikes hit a square where people had gathered for the weekly Muslim Friday prayers.

The opposition Syrian Media Organisation posted footage on YouTube of several bodies lying on a blood-stained floor, some of them children with blast wounds. Other bodies lay under white shrouds or jackets.

Another opposition group, the Shaam News Network, published a video on its Facebook page showing what it said was the aftermath of a blast in an open square. Bodies lay on the road and buildings were damaged.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

BDST: 2058 HRS, JAN 24, 2015