Divided Syrian city falls back into war
At least 47 are killed in onslaught by both government, rebels
An onslaught of airstrikes in rebelheld areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo has killed scores and destroyed a hospital supported by international aid groups, activists and humanitarian workers say.
BEIRUT — Syria’s divided city of Aleppo plunged back into the kind of all-out war not seen in months Thursday, witnesses and health workers said as they reeled from government airstrikes that demolished a hospital in the insurgent-held side and from retaliatory mortar assaults by rebels on the governmentheld side.
At least 27 people, including three children and six staff members, were reported killed in the strike on the hospital, which turned it into a smoking pile of rubble Wednesday night, and 20 were reported killed in airstrikes Thursday. At least 14 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the mortar attacks on government-controlled areas, said officials at a hospital where casualties were streaming in throughout the day Thursday.
Truce shattered The deadly destruction in Aleppo punctuated a drastic escalation in fighting over the past week that has shattered a partial truce in a war that has consumed Syria for more than five years.
The escalation also threatened to derail renewed attempts at peace talks in Geneva by the United Nations and could disrupt or stop humanitarian aid to besieged parts of the country, affecting millions of people, relief officials said.
“I could not in any way express how high the stakes are for the next hours and days,” Jan Egeland, the U.N. special adviser on Syria aid, said Thursday in Geneva as the scope of the destruction in Aleppo became clearer.
Once Syria’s commercial center, Aleppo has been an intermittent combat zone for much of the war, split into insurgent and government halves. It had enjoyed somewhat of a respite because of the partial cease-fire — until now.
The scream of jet fighters and thud of shelling could be heard everywhere from Wednesday night into Thursday, residents and aid workers said. Panic and anguish were visible on both sides of the city.
There was no indication that the Syrian government forces of President Bashar Assad and their Russian allies were any closer to retaking the entire city. But it had become apparent in recent days that the truce was unraveling in the surrounding area, with more airstrikes by the government and increased shelling by rebels.
More than 100 people, most of them civilians, have been killed, according to tallies by local news media and activists on both sides.
The location of Al-Quds hospital, the destroyed facility on the rebel side of the city, was well known, and the hospital was assisted by the international charity Doctors Without Borders.
“This devastating attack has destroyed a vital hospital in Aleppo, and the main referral center for pediatric care in the area,” the head of the charity’s Syria mission, Muskilda Zancada, said in a statement. “Where is the outrage among those with the power and obligation to stop this carnage?”
Russia’s military denied it was responsible.
‘You hear explosions’
The International Committee of the Red Cross called on all parties to stop indiscriminate attacks and to avoid harming civilians or Aleppo would face what it called a new humanitarian disaster.
“Wherever you are, you hear explosions of mortars, shelling and planes flying over,” said Valter Gros, who heads the Red Cross’s Aleppo office. “Everyone here fears for their lives and nobody knows what is coming next.”
By Thursday afternoon, outlets on both sides were reporting deadly new government airstrikes on the rebel-held neighborhoods of Bustan al-Qasr and Kalaseh.
Videos showed concrete apartment blocks with their facades sheared off in Bustan alQasr, where three children were reported killed.