Ninety Killed in Aleppo Air Strike

People inspect a damaged site after reported airstrikes on the rebel held Tariq al-Bab neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, on Sept. 23, 2016. People inspect a damaged site after reported airstrikes on the rebel held Tariq al-Bab neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, on Sept. 23, 2016. Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

Friday September 23 marked the second day of sustained airstrikes by the Syrian army against the city of Aleppo.

The strikes targeted the northernmost parts of the city as well as the outlying countryside, and left at least 91 dead. Fighter jets carried out 150 strikes in less than 24 hours, and targeted at least 30 neighbourhoods. On the ground activists maintain the official death toll is likely an underestimate, as many bodies remain trapped beneath the rubble.

Damage extended to three volunteer rescue centers belonging to a group known as the White Helmets.

Five vehicles belonging to the group, including an ambulance, were also destroyed in the strikes.

The bombing carried out by Russian backed forces came in of advance of a surprise operation that would see ground forces used to recapture rebel held areas of the city. Speaking to the AFP news agency, a high  ranking military source stated that the “[the aerial assault] could go on for hours or days before the ground operation starts”. The Syrian Ministry of Defense in turn issued a statement calling on Aleppo residents to move to government held areas of the city.

Requests from the international community for Russia and the government of Bashar al-Assad to commit to a long term ceasefire have thus far proven ineffective, and the recent airstrikes will likely only reinforce the trend; the last ceasefire indeed collapsed on Monday September 19, after only a week.

 

For more information, please read:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/scores-killed-syrian-jets-pound-rebel-held-aleppo-160923134637232.html.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/23/aleppo-residents-syria-russia-airstrikes.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN11T10B.

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