At least 80 people have been killed and around 200 wounded in an air strike in Syria.

AFP reports a marketplace in Douma, a rebel-held town near Damascus was struck several times. It is believed to be a government-led attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it expects the death toll to rise.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of anti-government activists, said that rescue workers are digging through the rubble in search of survivors.

The city has been targeted several times by government forces, who have attempted to stop rocket attacks from rebel groups within the city, which lies only 11km from Damascus.

Over 220,000 people have been killed and more than nine million displaced since the Syrian civil war began four years ago.