Reuters, Beirut :
Syria’s military backed by Russian warplanes have killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week, rescue workers said, part of a renewed bombardment supporting an offensive to seize the city’s shattered rebel-held sector.
As air strikes and shelling of the city’s east intensified since Tuesday after a brief period of relative calm, Syria’s government approved a U.N. plan to allow aid convoys into most besieged areas of Syria, with the exception of Aleppo.
Rising casualties in Aleppo, where buildings have been reduced to rubble or are lacking roofs or walls, have prompted an international outcry and a renewed diplomatic push, with talks between the United States and Russia planned for Saturday.
Now in its sixth year, Syria’s civil war has killed 300,000 people and made millions homeless while dragging in regional and global powers as well as inspiring jihadist attacks abroad.
President Bashar al-Assad is backed by the Russian air force, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and an array of Shi’ite militias from Arab neighbors, while Sunni rebels seeking to oust him are backed by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.
Air strikes killed 13 people on Thursday in the rebel-held Aleppo districts of al-Kalaseh, Bustan al-Qasr and al-Sakhour according to a civil defense official, while European Union foreign ministers drafted a statement accusing Syria and its allies of violence that “may amount to war crimes”.
“Since the beginning of the offensive by the (Syrian) regime and its allies, the intensity and scale of aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo is clearly disproportionate,” a draft of their statement seen by Reuters said.
Syrian military officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the situation in Aleppo. The Syrian and Russian governments say they target only militants.
To the south, hundreds of insurgents and their families have left two rebel-held towns on the northern outskirts of Damascus, residents and fighters said, under a deal with the government which is pushing its opponents to rebel areas further from the capital.
The evacuation happened after the army gave community leaders in Qudsiya and Al-Hama – which had enjoyed relative calm under local truces – an ultimatum to get several hundred fighters out of their towns or face a widescale assault.
Syria’s military backed by Russian warplanes have killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week, rescue workers said, part of a renewed bombardment supporting an offensive to seize the city’s shattered rebel-held sector.
As air strikes and shelling of the city’s east intensified since Tuesday after a brief period of relative calm, Syria’s government approved a U.N. plan to allow aid convoys into most besieged areas of Syria, with the exception of Aleppo.
Rising casualties in Aleppo, where buildings have been reduced to rubble or are lacking roofs or walls, have prompted an international outcry and a renewed diplomatic push, with talks between the United States and Russia planned for Saturday.
Now in its sixth year, Syria’s civil war has killed 300,000 people and made millions homeless while dragging in regional and global powers as well as inspiring jihadist attacks abroad.
President Bashar al-Assad is backed by the Russian air force, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and an array of Shi’ite militias from Arab neighbors, while Sunni rebels seeking to oust him are backed by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.
Air strikes killed 13 people on Thursday in the rebel-held Aleppo districts of al-Kalaseh, Bustan al-Qasr and al-Sakhour according to a civil defense official, while European Union foreign ministers drafted a statement accusing Syria and its allies of violence that “may amount to war crimes”.
“Since the beginning of the offensive by the (Syrian) regime and its allies, the intensity and scale of aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo is clearly disproportionate,” a draft of their statement seen by Reuters said.
Syrian military officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the situation in Aleppo. The Syrian and Russian governments say they target only militants.
To the south, hundreds of insurgents and their families have left two rebel-held towns on the northern outskirts of Damascus, residents and fighters said, under a deal with the government which is pushing its opponents to rebel areas further from the capital.
The evacuation happened after the army gave community leaders in Qudsiya and Al-Hama – which had enjoyed relative calm under local truces – an ultimatum to get several hundred fighters out of their towns or face a widescale assault.
