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Militant mortar attack kills four, injures 20 in Aleppo

Monday, 01 August 2016 3:32 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 01 August 2016 3:33 PM ]

Militants from the Takfiri Ajnad al-Sham terrorist group fire shells towards Syrian government positions on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo on July 31, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Foreign-sponsored militants have carried out a mortar attack on the eastern area of the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, leaving at least four people dead and 20 others injured, Press TV reports.

The casualties occurred in Ramouseh and Hamdaniyah neighborhoods in Aleppo on Monday, after the terrorists fired mortar shells and opened gunfire at civilians, Press TV correspondent in Syria said.

Local sources have noted that the injured were transferred to hospitals to receive treatment, adding that the deadly assault caused material damage to public and private properties.

The development comes as fierce clashes are going on between Syrian government forces and militants trying to break the siege around the city of Aleppo.

Reports by Syria’s official news agency, SANA, said that dozens of Syrian families have left the besieged militant-controlled eastern parts of Aleppo through humanitarian passages set up by the Syrian army.

Between 200,000 and 300,000 people are believed to still reside in eastern Aleppo, with the UN warning that food supplies will run out in the militant-held region in mid-August.

Syrians queue up to buy bread in a militant-held neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo on July 12, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Aleppo has been divided between the government forces and militants since 2012, a year after conflict broke out in the Arab country. Army forces are in the middle of a large military operation to liberate the militant-held parts of the province.

The Syrian government, backed by Russia, launched a large-scale humanitarian relief operation in Aleppo on Friday and created corridors providing civilians and the militants, who chose to surrender, the opportunity to leave the city.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011. The Takfiri terrorists operating in the Arab country have suffered major setbacks over the past few months as the Syrian army has managed to liberate several areas from the grip of the extremists.

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.

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