- A 4-year-old girl is killed in the Iraqi border town of al-Qaim, Iraq officials say
- At least 23 people are killed across Syria on Saturday, opposition activists say
- A Syrian opposition group reports warplanes dropping barrel bombs in Aleppo province
(CNN) -- As warplanes hovered over key battleground areas in Syria, violence also spilled across borders once again -- this time time in Iraq.
Here are the latest developments in Syria's 18-month bloody crisis:
The region: Iraqi child dies when rockets fall on neighboring al-Qaim
Four rockets fired from Syria landed across the Iraqi border on the town of al-Qaim, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials said Saturday. The rockets fell on a residential area, killing a 4-year-old girl, the ministry said.
"Although Iraq has taken a neutral position in the Syrian conflict ... our brave forces are ready to respond in case (of) repetition of such attack," the ministry said in a statement.
Al-Qaim is also home to a Syrian refugee center. About 4,000 refugees have crossed into Iraq from the Albu Kamal area of eastern Syria.
Numerous cross-border attacks from Syria to Iraq took place after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military routinely accused Sunni insurgents and foreign fighters of crossing from Syria into Iraq to launch attacks.
On the ground: Warplanes pummel cities across Syria
Shelling rained from the sky in both Aleppo and Damascus provinces Saturday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
"Massive explosions were reported due to improvised barrel bombs landing in the area" of Anadan, the group said.
The Damascus neighborhood of Tadamoun also suffered "ongoing war places sheling" and several mortar hits, opposition activists said.
Across the country, at least 23 people were killed Saturday, according to the LCC.
World response: A grave need for humanitarian help
Syria's humanitarian crisis has devolved from desperate to dire, aid groups say.
"Since the conflict erupted there have been many casualties," said Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, "and now the situation is rapidly deteriorating even further."
Well more than 24,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011, opposition activists say.
Maurer toured rural Damascus suburbs and said he was "shocked" by the damaged infrastructure and "deeply moved by the stories of distraught children who lost their parents in the fighting."
"Health workers face tremendous difficulties in performing their duties. Many men, women and children who could be saved are dying on a daily basis because they lack access to medical care."
On Friday, the United Nations raised an appeal for humanitarian aid to Syria to $347 million.
The European Commission, meanwhile, said it is preparing to release an additional รข‚¬50 million (nearly $64 million) in humanitarian funding. It would provide for health care, shelter, food, water and sanitation for displaced people.
CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Holly Yan and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.
