Dozens of civilians were killed as airstrikes flattened residential buildings in rebel-held east Aleppo on Monday, despite Western warnings of sanctions against Syria and Russia over attacks on the city. Once Syria’s thriving commercial hub, Aleppo has been ravaged by bombing raids and intensifying clashes as President Bashar Assad’s forces fight to capture opposition-held parts of the city. Russian air support of the onslaught, which has destroyed hospitals and other civilian infrastructures, has spurred accusations of potential war crimes and threats of punitive sanctions. World powers are expected to follow up on last-ditch diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people since it beginnings in March of 2011.
The latest air strikes on Aleppo killed 13 civilians in the district of Marjeh, taking the number left dead in a 24-hour period to 46, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Among them were nine children, including a 17-year-old and her newborn baby. The White Helmets rescuers were working to pull more than a dozen people out of the rubble in the district of Qaterji, where Russian raids killed 17 civilians. “There are still families under the ruins. We pulled out seven or eight bodies and dozens of wounded. The hospitals are full of casualties. It’s a disaster.”
Both Russian and Syrian warplanes are carrying out air strikes over Aleppo in support of a major offensive by regime forces to capture rebel-held parts of the northern city. More than 430 people have been killed in air raids and bombardment on the eastern half since the assault was announced on September 22. Another 82 people have died in rebel fire on government-held neighborhoods in the west, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. In response to the onslaught, the United States and Britain warned that they were considering new economic sanctions against Syria and Russia. “There are a lot of measures that we’re proposing including extra measures on the regime and their supporters,” said British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. “These things will eventually come to bite the perpetrators of these crimes, and they should think about it now.”
Syria’s war has devolved from a widespread protest movement against Assad’s rule to a multi-front war that has carved the country into zones of control held by rebels, jihadists, Kurds, and regime forces. In June 2014, IS declared a self-styled Islamic caliphate across swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced earlier Monday that the long-awaited operation to recapture Mosul, IS’s last major stronghold in Iraq, was under way.
Originally posted at Times of Israel. PHOTO: AFP PHOTO/KARAM AL-MASRI
