The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 43 rebels and 30 pro-government troops had died since Thursday in the battle for Khan Tuman, which overlooks the main route from the capital. The death toll from last week’s attack has risen to 55, according to Doctors Without Borders.
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Worldwide humanitarian law clearly sets out the responsibilities of warring parties to protect civilians and to take every possible measure to avoid places where civilians are living and where they are being looked after by humanitarians, he said.
The Observatory and the other groups said Aleppo was relatively quiet after the cease-fire was extended, but reported heavy fighting between the Islamic State and other militant groups in the northern parts of Aleppo province, near the border with Turkey.
Activists say two missiles hit the camp.
“There’s absolutely no justification for attacks on civilians in Syria, but especially on what appears to have been a refugee camp”, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
“While we welcome this recent extension, our goal is to get to a point where we no longer have to count the hours and that the cessation of hostilities is fully respected across Syria”, he said.
Anti-Assad activists have blamed the government, but the Syrian military has denied the accusation.
With ISIS constantly doing very bad things (and sometimes, doing bad things badly), it’s easy to forget that there’s a massive conflict between Bashar al-Assad’s government regime and a smattering of rebel forces in Syria.
The United States has said that the circumstances are unclear. Assad said the army was set on “attaining final victory” and “crushing the aggression”.
In a separate development on Friday, Syrian opposition sources reported that government troops had begun an assault on the central prison in Hama, where 800 inmates, including political prisoners, had taken control of a section of the jail and were holding guards hostage.
The Syrian regime has pledged to abide by a temporary truce when it comes to Aleppo.
Russian Federation meanwhile said that a truce in Aleppo itself had been extended until Monday.
“They have given it a 48-hour time limit”.
Konashenkov said the destruction seen on photographs and videos suggested the camp could have been shelled, whether intentionally or by mistake, from multiple rocket launchers that the Syrian al-Qaida affiliate, known as the Nusra Front, has been using in the area.
The camp is far from any major towns or cities.
“There were no flights by Russian or any other aircraft”, spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.
Syria’s ally Russian Federation said none of its aircraft had flown over the camp. Men covered and carried away bodies, and women and children lying in a truck bed wailed in anguish before a vehicle drove them away. “White Helmet” emergency workers can be seen trying to put out fires. The battle included several Islamist factions aligned with al-Qaeda in the neighboring Idlib Province, but notably did not include the Free Syrian Army (FSA) faction that usually participates. Damascus and Moscow say both groups are terrorists.
The performance of the Mariinsky Orchestra, based in Vladimir Putin’s hometown of Saint Petersberg, in the same ancient amphitheater where IS militants carried out widely publicized killings-and called “A Prayer for Palmyra”-was meant to send a message that Russia’s presence in Syria would bring hope and stability”.
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The Russian diplomat said that Russia is exerting enormous efforts to consolidate the truce in Aleppo city.
