Aleppo’s humanitarian crisis worsens with ongoing fighting

Fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo for several days has cut off the flow of water to millions of residents as a humanitarian crisis shows signs of spreading from opposition neighborhoods to pro-government districts.

Escalating assaults between government soldiers and rebels for control of the key northern city appear to be turning into a crucial battle in the 5-year-old conflict, which has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions.

Although divided since 2012, the western districts held by Syrian President Bashar Assad have not experienced the severe deprivations of areas in the east that rebel forces control. But after an array of rebels and extremists linked to al-Qaida broke the brutal government siege of opposition neighborhoods last week, the rebels escalated the assault to besiege the government side.

That has disrupted supplies of food and medicine to an area where more than a million people live, potentially testing loyalties of residents there to the embattled Syrian leader.

In response, rebels and opposition activists say, Assad’s forces have responded with intensified bombings that have struck hospitals and involved munitions containing chlorine gas, a choking agent.

Compounding the misery, U.N. officials said Tuesday that fighting had disabled Aleppo’s main power plant, which had pumped water to 2 million people on both sides of the city.

“Prices are getting expensive, and businessmen are choosing not to sell what they have because they want to profit later when prices get even higher,” said Hisham, a resident of a loyalist district in the city’s west end who asked that his last name not be published because of concerns for his safety. Seizing all of Aleppo — the largest city in Syria and an important industrial hub before the civil war — has long been a key objective for government and rebel forces. Despite attempted offensives by both sides over the years, the city has only suffered in a bloody stalemate.

One eyewitness contacted by telephone said Wednesday’s suspected chlorine gas attack lit up the evening sky. It was followed by a foul smell that made it difficult for his infant daughter to breathe, he said.