On April 23, Syrian regime air strikes in the opposition-held town of Douma near Damascus, and Aleppo in the north killed 25 people and wounded many others.
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In a separate incident 25km west of Aleppo, five Civil Defence workers – first responders in opposition-held territory where medical infrastructure has all but broken down – were killed by air strikes and a rocket attack on their centre.
The group said on Twitter that five of their own rescue workers were killed when their headquarters in the town of Al-Atarib, controlled by Islamist rebels, was hit by an airstrike.
Citing their correspondent in Damascus, Al Masdar says that the number of airstrikes carried out by the Russian Air Force has doubled in the last three weeks, due to the increase in ground activity by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra militants.
Fighting has intensified in Aleppo in recent days after the near collapse of a partial truce brokered by Washington and Moscow in February.
Fighting has surged on several fronts in Aleppo province, which is criss-crossed with supply routes that are strategic for practically all of Syria’s warring sides.
A Syrian military source said the army would “respond firmly” against rebels attacking government-held parts of Aleppo. On April 22, the United Nations special envoy for Syria vowed to take the talks into next week despite a walkout by the main armed opposition with both sides gearing up to escalate the war.
Rebels accuse the YPG of collaborating with the government in trying to stop people using the only road into opposition-held Aleppo, something the YPG denies.
Violence has rocked the city since Friday, with at least 100 civilians killed by artillery or rocket fire and air strikes.
President Barack Obama said Monday the U.S. would send up to 250 more military trainers to help fight the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria.
Syrian rebels are anticipating a major government offensive in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and onetime commercial capital, which has been contested since 2012. Anas al-Abda, the leader of the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition represented in the Geneva talks, lamented the global community’s “limpness” in responding to what he called “massacres” against civilians, in response to the Aleppo violence.
The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has vowed to continue the fragile peace talks despite the walkout by the opposition and signs that both sides are gearing up to escalate the war, which has killed more than 250,000 people.
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On Sunday Obama had pressed for all parties to the Syrian conflict, including the regime’s ally Russian Federation, to return to the negotiating table and “reinstate” an internationally-brokered ceasefire.
