Syria’s military backed by Russian warplanes have killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week say rescue workers, 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 UN 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 caused international outcry and a renewed diplomatic push, with talks between the United States and Russia planned for tomorrow.
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 and inspiring extremist attacks abroad.
President Bashar al-Assad is backed by Russia’s air force, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and an array of Shia militias from Arab neighbours, while Sunni rebels seeking to oust him are backed by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.
Air strikes killed 13 people yesterday in the rebel-held Aleppo districts of al-Kalaseh, Bustan al-Qasr and al-Sakhour according to a civil defence 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 latest situation in Aleppo.
The Syrian and Russian governments say they only target militants.
US President Barack Obama and his senior foreign policy advisers are expected to meet today to consider military and other options in Syria, US officials said.
Some officials argue the United States must act more forcefully in Syria or risk losing what influence it still has over moderate rebels and its Arab, Kurdish and Turkish allies in the fight against Islamic State, the officials told Reuters.
US officials said they consider it unlikely that Obama will order US air strikes on Syrian government targets, and they stressed that he may not make any decisions at the planned meeting of his National Security Council.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are due to meet in Switzerland tomorrow to resume their failed effort to find a diplomatic solution along with counterparts from some Middle East states.
Moscow yesterday called on regional states not to supply portable anti-aircraft missiles to Syrian rebel groups, warning that any unfriendly actions against Russian forces would elicit an appropriate response.
Speaking to a Russian newspaper, Syria’s Assad said his country’s only hope was that Moscow could convince Turkey to end its support of the rebellion, a move that would cut insurgents off from their main external supply route.
Air strikes against rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo had tapered off over the weekend after the Syrian army announced it would reduce raids for what it described as humanitarian reasons, but they have intensified since Tuesday.
“The bombing started at 2am and it’s going on until now,” Ibrahim Abu Laith, an official at the civil defence rescue organisation in Aleppo, told Reuters from Aleppo.
Rescue workers said 154 people had been killed in recent days.
Reuters could not independently verify the death toll.
Aleppo has been divided between government- and rebel-controlled areas for years.
More than 250,000 people are believed to be trapped in eastern Aleppo, the rebels’ most important urban stronghold, facing shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
In Geneva, the United Nations said Damascus had partially approved its aid plan for October, giving the green light for convoys to 25 of 29 besieged and hard-to-reach areas across Syria, which are also deprived of some vital supplies.
However, the Syrian government did not give approval for either eastern Aleppo or three districts near Damascus, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, the United Nation’s deputy special envoy to Syria said yesterday, describing the situation as “dire”.