Russian, Syrian warplanes increase bombing raids in Aleppo
Mon Jun 06, 2016 01:24:pm World
2.6K By Buchi Obichie
The Syrian city of Aleppo was bombarded by Syrian and Russian aircraft on Sunday. The planes launched a barrage of strikes which hit rebel-held areas in Aleppo.
For their part, rebels also hit government-held areas of Aleppo.
According to Syrian State media, missiles fired on Hamadaniyah, Midan and other neighborhoods by insurgents left at least twenty dead, mostly civilians.
In the rebel-held eastern sector of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of barrel bombs oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel- were dropped by military helicopters on several densely populated districts.
A civil defense worker said at least 32 people were killed in the rebel-held parts of the city, with eighteen bodies alone pulled out of the rubble of flattened buildings in the Qatrji neighborhood, the worst hit.
"This week-long campaign of bombing is very intense and day by day it's getting worse .. it is the worst we have seen in a while," said Bebars Mishal, a civil defense official in rebel-held Aleppo.
The aerial raids on Sunday came in the wake of Friday's strikes on civilian areas that residents said were the most intense in over a month.
The city, which has been divided for years between rebel and government-held zones, has seen many deadly bombardments that have all but destroyed a February ceasefire agreement.
Full control of Aleppo city, which used to be Syria's largest city before the war started, would be a huge prize for President Bashar al-Assad. Russia's military intervention in September has helped to bolster Assad's government.
A Russian defense ministry statement on Sunday accused militant Syrian Islamist groups of firing mortars on the mainly Kurdish-populated Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood in Aleppo.
Rebels accuse the powerful Kurdish YPG of working hand in hand with the Syrian army in its bombing raids.
Hardline militants have consolidated gains since Friday in the area around the strategic town of Khan Touman, rebels say.
The Nusra Front spearheaded an attack on Khan Touman last month, delivering one of the biggest battlefield setbacks yet to a coalition of foreign Shi'ite fighters, including Iranians and the Lebanese Hezbollah fighting in support of Syrian government forces.
Rebels say Russian jets on Sunday pounded insurgent positions in the area to prevent them from advancing toward the nearby town of Hader, which rebels say is a stronghold of Iranian-backed militias.
For their part, rebels also hit government-held areas of Aleppo.
According to Syrian State media, missiles fired on Hamadaniyah, Midan and other neighborhoods by insurgents left at least twenty dead, mostly civilians.
In the rebel-held eastern sector of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of barrel bombs oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel- were dropped by military helicopters on several densely populated districts.
A civil defense worker said at least 32 people were killed in the rebel-held parts of the city, with eighteen bodies alone pulled out of the rubble of flattened buildings in the Qatrji neighborhood, the worst hit.
"This week-long campaign of bombing is very intense and day by day it's getting worse .. it is the worst we have seen in a while," said Bebars Mishal, a civil defense official in rebel-held Aleppo.
The aerial raids on Sunday came in the wake of Friday's strikes on civilian areas that residents said were the most intense in over a month.
The city, which has been divided for years between rebel and government-held zones, has seen many deadly bombardments that have all but destroyed a February ceasefire agreement.
Full control of Aleppo city, which used to be Syria's largest city before the war started, would be a huge prize for President Bashar al-Assad. Russia's military intervention in September has helped to bolster Assad's government.
A Russian defense ministry statement on Sunday accused militant Syrian Islamist groups of firing mortars on the mainly Kurdish-populated Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood in Aleppo.
Rebels accuse the powerful Kurdish YPG of working hand in hand with the Syrian army in its bombing raids.
Hardline militants have consolidated gains since Friday in the area around the strategic town of Khan Touman, rebels say.
The Nusra Front spearheaded an attack on Khan Touman last month, delivering one of the biggest battlefield setbacks yet to a coalition of foreign Shi'ite fighters, including Iranians and the Lebanese Hezbollah fighting in support of Syrian government forces.
Rebels say Russian jets on Sunday pounded insurgent positions in the area to prevent them from advancing toward the nearby town of Hader, which rebels say is a stronghold of Iranian-backed militias.
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