Thousands of Syrian rebel fighters have joined forces to push back the army, in “the great battle for Aleppo” that they hope will end the siege.
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At the same time, the United Nations Children’s Fund said it is “extremely concerned” for the safety and well being of children caught in the ongoing war.
He said the “liberation” of Aleppo “will have a prominent impact” in the Syrian crisis. Video clips of rebels surrendering were aired on several Syrian TVs.
Syria Government forces have advanced on Aleppo in recent weeks, imposing a siege on the opposition-held eastern part of the city since early last month.
The observatory said that Russian aircraft were behind the strikes at dawn.
Russia, a staunch Assad ally, had declared it was offering humanitarian corridors for residents to leave the area, but rights groups said such passages are not neutral and don’t offer guarantees to civilians wishing to use them.
Syria Civil Defense, a voluntary rescue group also known as the White Helmets, said in a Facebook post that 10 people had been killed by the strikes.
The Aleppo offensive groups fighters from Fateh Al-Sham Front, formerly Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, the powerful Ahrar Al-Sham and other factions.
All six facilities were reportedly hit between 23 July and 31 July were major hospitals in Aleppo governorate, the group said. But the latest round of Syrian peace talks, which ended in Geneva last month having made little progress, were marred by the drastic escalation of fighting in Aleppo and elsewhere.
At least 13 people, including nine children, were killed in air strikes on the rebel-held east of Aleppo on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. “And at some point we have to say this is enough and people have to be held to account”, Sanjayan Srikanthan, Deputy Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee, told Al Jazeera. Skeptics fear the Russians will take advantage of US intelligence sharing to further support the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who Obama has said has lost legitimacy to lead.
At least 30 people, mostly women and children were affected by the gas, which workers say was dropped overnight near the site where a Russian helicopter was downed hours earlier by rebel ground fire.
Rebel fighters and their militant allies launched an assault on Sunday in a bid to ease a more than two-week government siege of opposition-held districts of the city.
In a statement on Tuesday, 35 NGOs called the humanitarian corridors initiative “deeply flawed”.
Moscow informed Washington of the use of toxic shells on Monday, Lieutenant-General Sergey Chvarkov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, said.
“We are in intensive discussions with the Russian Federation and the government of Syria to ensure that the civilian population in Aleppo is protected and that standards of worldwide humanitarian law are respected in any operation of humanitarian assistance”, Ramzy said.
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Syria’s conflict has killed more than 280,000 people and drawn in world powers on both sides since it erupted in March 2011.
