Syrian Army: Rebels Kill 84 People In 3 Days In Aleppo

The Syrian rebels' assault on regime-held parts of Aleppo keeps getting deadlier, with 84 people killed over the past three days, the Syrian military said Monday.
The latest violence also wounded 280 people in western Aleppo, Syria's General Command of the Armed Forces said.

Syrian rebels have intensified attacks on western Aleppo to try to break the regime's siege of opposition-held eastern Aleppo, which has been choked off from food, fuel and other necessities.

The military said rebels fired more than 100 mortar and launched 50 rockets. It also accused rebels of using chlorine gas on civilian areas, saying there were 48 cases of breathing difficulties.

Human rights groups that have long decried the regime's indiscriminate attacks say nothing justifies rebel attacks on civilians.

"The goal of breaking the siege on eastern Aleppo does not give armed opposition groups a license to flout the rules of international humanitarian law by bombarding civilian neighborhoods in government-held areas without distinction," Samah Hadid of Amnesty International said.

"Armed opposition groups have displayed a shocking disregard for civilian lives. Video footage shows they have used imprecise explosive weapons including mortars and Katyusha rockets, whose use in the vicinity of densely populated civilian areas flagrantly violates international humanitarian law."

The stark contrast between regime-held and rebel-held Aleppo
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 17 children have been killed in government-controlled western Aleppo since the offensive began.
And the UN's special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he was "appalled" by the number of rockets indiscriminately launched by armed opposition groups on civilian suburbs.

The regime, too, has been accused of indiscriminately attacking civilians in Aleppo. Even those hospitalized or living underground aren't safe.
"Bunker-buster" bombs destroyed the M10 hospital in rebel-held eastern Aleppo this month, opposition activists said. Much of the hospital was underground due to the near-constant fear of airstrikes.
Adding to the catastrophe: Bombings have also destroyed water infrastructure, depriving many Syrians of clean water.