DAMASCUS: Syria's state news agency says at least 14 civilians, including seven children, were killed when rebels shelled a government-controlled neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo.

The state news agency said the shelling Sunday took place in al-Midan neighborhood, once a center for the city's thriving Armenian community.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that 14 were killed in the shelling, which it said took place early Sunday from a nearby rebel-controlled area. The group said government air raids on an adjacent neighborhood killed a child. The Observatory relies on a network of activists on the ground.

Aleppo, once the commercial center of Syria, has been divided since 2012, with government forces controlling much of western Aleppo and rebel groups in control of the east.