Air raids on rebel-held districts of Syria’s battleground
second city of Aleppo killed at least 21 civilians including children on
Saturday, a monitor said
.
“Eleven civilians, including four children, were killed by
air raids after midnight in the Bab al-Nasr area of Old Aleppo, and seven
others were killed in Fardous neighbourhood,” the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said.
Two people including a young girl were killed in the Maadi
district, and another civilian died in bombardment on Bustan al-Qasr, the
Britain-based monitor said. The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across
Syria for its information, warned that the toll could rise due to the number of
critically wounded.
“At least 20 people are still under the rubble,” said Observatory
head Rami Abdel Rahman.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said helicopters and
fighter jets were still circling rebel-held neighbourhoods, adding that barrel
bombs — crude, unguided explosive devices — had been dropped on several areas.
A hospital in the Maadi neighbourhood was hit in the
bombing, wounding some of the staff and patients inside.
“All kinds of weapons were used to bomb the hospital, from
midnight until about 11:00am. Now it’s unusable,” Mohammad Kheir, one of the
doctors there, told AFP.
“There were some injuries among the medical staff but
thankfully they are only light wounds.”
A crying woman clad in a black robe desperately grasped the
leg of a bloodied young man as doctors treated him on the hospital floor.
Twisted metal frames and damaged medical equipment lay
strewn across the room, some next to small pools of blood.
The Observatory said rebel fighters shelled
government-controlled western areas of Aleppo, but had no immediate word on any
casualties.
Aleppo city is divided roughly between government control in
the west and rebel control in the east.
It was once Syria’s commercial powerhouse but has since been
ravaged by the country’s five-year war.
– Truce routinely violated –
A ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States in
February between government forces and non-jihadist rebels does not cover
Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front which has a strong presence in many
rebel-held areas.
The truce has been routinely violated, particularly in and
around Aleppo.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Kerry and his Russian
counterpart Sergei Lavrov said they had agreed on “concrete steps” to salvage
the failing ceasefire.
The top diplomats met for a 12-hour marathon meeting, but
would not divulge the details of the deal in order to allow the “quiet
business” of peacemaking to continue, Kerry said.
Last week, government forces advanced to within firing range
of the last remaining supply route into rebel-held areas of Aleppo, prompting
food shortages and spiralling prices.
According to the United Nations, nearly 600,000 people are
living under siege across Syria, most of them surrounded by government forces
although rebel groups also use the brutal tactic.
More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions have
been forced to flee their homes since the Syrian conflict broke out in March
2011.
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