At least 30 people, including children and women, were killed in government-controlled areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo from recent shelling by rebel forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday.
The shells were fired from within rebel-held eastern Aleppo, targeting surrounding areas controlled by the Syrian regime, the UK-based monitoring group said.
Eastern Aleppo has been held by rebel groups since July 2012, but has recently been besieged by government forces.
The shelling comes as rebel groups launched an offensive Sunday, in a push toward the area to try and break the siege that has choked the area.
Fires to stop the bombs
Ongoing fighting in Aleppo has given way to a humanitarian crisis in the city, with basic food, water, fuel and medical supplies dwindling as the government siege essentially cut the area off from the rest of the country.
Images from the area show Aleppo residents, including children, lighting fires to obscure the vision of pilots and to prevent them from dropping bombs on neighborhoods.
A Russian helicopter was shot down on Monday over Idlib province, killing all five people on board in the biggest single loss of life for Russia in Syria since its warplanes started carrying out airstrikes in September 2015.
The Kremlin said the team had delivered aid to Aleppo and the helicopter was downed as they returned to base.
Here’s what’s else if going on in Aleppo by numbers:
6,000+ people killed or injured
Some neighborhoods in the besieged eastern Aleppo have been under fire for more than 80 consecutive days, with regular bombardment by regime forces backed by Russian air power.
At least 6,000 people have been either killed or injured in that time, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
The group said rebel-held areas in the city’s east have faced sustained attack by regime artillery and airstrikes, while rebel and Islamic factions have shelled regime-controlled areas in western neighborhoods.
Up to 300,000 people trapped
The United Nations has warned of a potential humanitarian catastrophe as regime troops backed by Russian air power tighten their grip on the ruined city. It estimates that between 200,000 and 300,000 people remain trapped in the besieged eastern part of Aleppo.
For those left in the area, life is grim
The siege has essentially cut the area off from vital supplies, and the shelves of once-bustling food markets are empty. Fuel is running low, and there is concern that ambulances will stop coming to people’s aid and that hospital generators will have nothing to run on, CNN correspondent Ian Lee reports.
People are reusing medical supplies that should be disposable, such as syringes, Lee says.
169 civilians fled through corridors
The Syrian and Russian governments say three humanitarian corridors have been opened to allow for the distribution of badly needed food and medical aid to civilians and to provide residents — along with rebels who choose to surrender — the opportunity to leave. The Syrian regime and Russia say four more corridors will soon be made available.
The Russian military said that 169 civilians and 69 militants fled through the corridors over the weekend, the state-run Russian news agency Sputnik reported.
But CNN sources on the ground there say that the corridors are barely being used as an escape route.
They say they believe people are too scared to flee, fearing what the regime might do to them once they get out.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested Friday that the corridor approach could potentially be a “ruse.”
Russia says it has prepared 14 tons of humanitarian cargo for those who leave the city, with 2.5 tons of food and other essentials already supplied.
4 hospitals bombarded
Four hospitals and one blood bank were hit by airstrikes on the weekend of July 23 and 24, according to UNICEF.
It said a 2-day-old baby died in an incubator due to interruptions in the oxygen supply after airstrikes on a UNICEF-supported pediatric hospital.
It was the only such hospital in the city and was reportedly hit twice in less than 12 hours, UNICEF said.
“Attacks on health facilities are a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and can amount to war crimes,” a UNICEF statement said. “Health facilities must never be attacked or damaged, and health workers should be allowed to provide medical treatment and services to all people in need wherever they are inside Syria.”
