Air strikes in Syria kill dozens

BEIRUT — Syria’s military threatened a ground offensive in Aleppo and pounded the city’s rebel-held neighbourhoods with air strikes on Friday, killing dozens, demolishing buildings and damaging a main water station in an escalation that could doom faltering attempts to revive a ceasefire.

Rebels vowed to fight to keep President Bashar Assad’s forces out of their districts and shelled government neighbourhoods, wounding several people, according to state media.

Diplomatic efforts in New York have failed to salvage a Syria ceasefire that lasted nearly a week, before giving way to what residents and activists say is a new level of violence. The bombing, which began in earnest late Wednesday, has been unprecedented, targeting residential areas, infrastructure and civil-defence centres.

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and one-time commercial centre, has been contested since July 2012, but in recent weeks its rebel-held neighbourhoods have been under siege by government forces and their allies. During the ceasefire, aid convoys remained stuck on the Turkish border unable to reach rebelheld parts of the city where 250,000 people live.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians, including three children, were killed in dozens of raids that began overnight. A member of the city’s forensic team, Mohammed Abu Jaafar, said he had documented 54 deaths since late Thursday, including many women and children.