At least 202 civilians killed in past seven days of Aleppo violence: Syrian Observatory

Seventy-one civilians, including 13 children, were killed by rebel shelling into government-held areas of the city during the same period, the British-based monitoring group said.

People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr, Syria April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail

BEIRUT: Air strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo killed 123 civilians including 18 children during the past seven days of intensified violence in the northern Syrian city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday (Apr 29).

Seventy-one civilians, including 13 children, were killed by rebel shelling into government-held areas of the city during the same period, the British-based monitoring group said.
Eight more civilians, including three children, were killed by government shelling into areas not under its control in the city, the Observatory said.
'HUMANITARIAN DISASTER'
The upsurge in violence in and around Aleppo has severely strained the February truce between the government and non-militant rebels and cast a shadow over the UN envoy's hopes of convening a new round of peace talks next month.
Rebel rocket and artillery fire on government-held neighbourhoods on Thursday killed 22 civilians, including two children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Regime air strikes on rebel-held districts, including the densely populated Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, killed 31 civilians, including three children, according to the British-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

Rebels have controlled eastern districts of Aleppo since 2012, while western neighbourhoods are held by the regime.

Control of the surrounding province is divided between a myriad of armed groups - militants of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, Kurdish militia and various rebel factions as well as the army.

Further north in the province, rebels including the powerful Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group and Kurdish forces fought fierce battles Wednesday and early Thursday that left 64 fighters dead, a monitor said.

- Agencies/yt