20 killed in bombardment of rebel-held areas of Aleppo

BEIRUT — Government bombardment of besieged rebel-held neighbourhoods in Aleppo killed at least 20 people Saturday, the worst since airstrikes resumed earlier this week, said Syrian opposition activists, as the U.S. called for an end to the bombings.

Saturday was the fifth day of assaults by Syrian warplanes on eastern Aleppo districts, a rebelheld enclave of 275,000 people. The onslaught began Tuesday, when Russia announced an offensive on the northern rebel-controlled Idlib province and Homs province in central Syria.

The bombing on Saturday came after a day of airstrikes that hit four hospitals in east Aleppo. A statement issued late Friday by the opposition’s Aleppo Health Directorate said that all hospitals in east Aleppo are out of service.

“The intentional destruction of infrastructure for survival has made the besieged steadfast people, including children, elderly and men and women, without medical facilities to treat them,” the statement said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said not all hospitals in east Aleppo neighbourhoods are out of service, but people are finding difficulties reaching them because of the intensity of the shelling.

The White House meanwhile demanded an immediate halt to Syrian strikes on eastern Aleppo. White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the U.S. is tracking reports about health conditions.

Speaking in Peru, Rice said the U.S. condemns the “horrific attacks” against hospitals and aid workers “in the strongest possible terms.” —