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Air strikes pound rebel-held Aleppo districts overnight

by Reuters
Monday, 26 September 2016 08:29 GMT

A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike on the rebel held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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BEIRUT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Dozens of air strikes hit the northern Syrian city of Aleppo overnight, a monitor and defence worker said, continuing a fierce air campaign by Syrian government and allied forces since a ceasefire broke down almost a week ago.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of air strikes had hit the rebel-held half of the divided city overnight, killing and wounding a number of people.

The air attacks follow a week of escalating bombardment after a week-long ceasefire broke down. On Thursday the Syrian army said it launched a fresh offensive in the city which has become the main battle ground of the conflict, now in its sixth year.

Bebars Mishal, a civil defence worker in rebel-held Aleppo, told Reuters the bombardment continued overnight until 6 a.m. (0300 GMT).

"It's the same situation. Especially at night, the bombardment intensifies, it becomes more violent, using all kinds of weapons, phosphorous and napalm and cluster bombs," Mishal said.

"Now, there's just the helicopter, and God only knows where it will bomb. God knows which building will collapse," he said.

The Observatory said it had documented the deaths of 237 people, including 38 children, from air strikes on Aleppo city and the surrounding countryside since last Monday when the ceasefire ended. Of those documented deaths, 162 were in rebel-held east Aleppo city.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Ellen Francis; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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