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Militant shelling kills 49 civilians in Syria’s Aleppo

Thursday, 28 April 2016 10:38 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 29 April 2016 3:24 AM ]

At least 49 civilians have been killed in recent rocket attacks by foreign-backed militants in Aleppo.

At least 49 civilians have reportedly been killed in recent rocket attacks carried out by foreign-backed militants in Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday that the deadly attacks took place in government-held areas of the embattled city during the past six days.

Meanwhile, Syria’s official news agency SANA said militant fire killed at least four civilians and wounded four others in Aleppo on Thursday.

The Britain-based observatory also said a series of airstrikes hit a hospital and nearby buildings in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo shortly before midnight on Wednesday, killing at least 27.

The Paris-based medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said 14 patients and medical staff, including at least three doctors, were among those killed in the airstrikes.

The casualties are the latest from an upsurge of fighting between government and terrorists in the city that has reportedly killed nearly 150 people since last Friday.

On Wednesday, special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura called for urgent steps by the US and Russia to rescue the February 27 ceasefire.

The truce came close to collapse after foreign-backed militants abandoned the peace talks and declared a new war on the Syrian government.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on the same day that Turkey and other countries were supplying terrorists in Syria with advanced weapons.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (L) is seen seated prior to a round of negotiations between the Syrian opposition and the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 27, 2016. ©AFP

Russia’s RIA Novosti quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry source as saying on Thursday that de Mistura will visit Moscow next week to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The agency said the UN official would discuss prospects for the resumption of peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

A high-ranking source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Russia’s Interfax that de Mistura intends to launch the next round of the intra-Syrian talks between May 10 and May 15.

De Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2011, which has furthermore displaced over half of Syria’s prewar population.

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