Beirut, Mar 5: Syrian regime bombardment on the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta killed at least 45 civilians today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based war monitor said at least 19 of the victims were killed in the town of Hammuriyeh, where regime aircraft used crude improvised munitions known as "barrels bombs".

The Observatory warned that toll could rise further as bodies were still being retrieved from the rubble.

UN Rights' Body Orders Probe in Eastern Ghouta Killings

The UN Human Rights Council today ordered an urgent investigation into the situation in Syria's besieged rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta and demanded immediate humanitarian access to the area.

The council voted in favour of a resolution calling on rights investigators to "urgently conduct a comprehensive and independent inquiry into recent events in Eastern Ghouta."

With 29 votes in favour, 14 abstentions and four opposed, the UN's top rights body also demanded immediate humanitarian access to the area where 400,000 residents have lived under siege from the regime since 2013 and face severe food and medicine shortages.