Regime airstrikes killed dozens of civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo and nearby areas on Friday as the UN Security Council prepared to discuss emergency aid drops to besieged areas.
Regime airstrikes killed dozens of civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo and nearby areas on Friday as the UN Security Council prepared to discuss emergency aid drops to besieged areas.
The raids were the most intense in more than a month, with dozens of barrel bombs — crude, unguided explosive devices — dropped on several rebel-held eastern districts of the city, an AFP correspondent said.
Ten people were killed when a bus they were travelling in was hit on the Castello road, a key rebel supply route out of Aleppo, the civil defence said.
At least 28 other civilians were killed in regime strikes on several neighbourhoods in the rebel-held east of the city, said the civil defence, known as the White Helmets.
“There are people under the rubble and we’re still looking for the missing,” a civil defence volunteer who gave his name as Khaled said.
Meanwhile, the Security Council was convening in New York on Friday, with UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura and UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien reporting to the body.
Officials have stressed the challenges and risks of aid operations in the skies above a country at war. A UN spokesperson said helicopters would have to be used to transport aid.
