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World Bulletin / News Desk

A Syrian war plane bombarded the northern border town of Azaz on Wednesday, activists said, killing at least 30 people.

Residents screaming and shouting "God is greatest", carried bloodied bodies away from collapsed concrete buildings, video published by activists on YouTube showed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens were killed. An activist in the town said at least 30 bodies had been found, and activists were still searching the wreckage for more dead.

Syrian forces fighting the 17-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad have increasingly used helicopter gunships and fighter jets against the rebels, weaponry that the lightly armed opposition fighters cannot match.

"A fighter jet flew over the town and first it fired at a car, and blew it up. Then it started firing on a street nearby and several buildings collapsed, there was nothing we could do. I expect the death toll will climb as we keep digging through the rubble," the activist, who called himself Anwar, told Reuters.

The activist video showed crowds of residents trying to untangle steel reinforcement bars and pull away a giant slab of concrete. The small arm of a child, covered in dust, could be seen beneath it. "This is a real catastrophe," Anwar said. "An entire street was destroyed."

It was not immediately possible to independently verify the footage.