Then on Thursday the Syrian army announced a major new offensive to win full control of Aleppo. There are reports of fighting between regime forces and rebels on several edges of the city.
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The attack on Aleppo could be the biggest yet in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and drove millions of people from their homes. The head of the Civil Defence Rescue Service, Ammar al Selmo said on Saturday, “There are planes in the sky now. Our teams are responding but are not enough to cover this amount of catastrophe”.
At least 47 people were killed in heavy bombing yesterday, among them seven children, according to the Observatory.
“I call on the United States of America, from here in NY, to take urgent measures – military, political and diplomatic measures – to protect the Syrian people”, Syria’s chief opposition co-ordinator Riad Hijab told reporters.
‘The Assad regime and with direct participation of its ally Russian Federation and Iranian militias has escalated its criminal and vicious attack on our people in Aleppo employing a scorched earth policy to destroy the city and uproot its people, ‘ a statement signed by 30 mainstream rebel groups said on Sunday.
The meeting was likely to be held at 10 am (1400 GMT) on Sunday, the diplomats said.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday he was “appalled by the chilling military escalation” in Syria’s battleground city of Aleppo where residents cowered indoors as air strikes toppled buildings and killed at least 45 civilians.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the “chilling military escalation” in Aleppo, his spokesman said on Saturday.
Both the Russian and Syrian governments deny carrying out the Monday attack on a United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy near Aleppo that killed 20 people. Stephane Dujarric said that the secretary-general was alarmed by strikes that involved incendiary arms and bunker busting bombs.
Describing the reported attacks as a “dark day” for the global commitment to protect civilians, Ban called on the worldwide community to “unite to send a clear message” of no tolerance for the use of deadly weapons against civilians. But the rebels said any peace process would be futile unless “scorched earth bombing” by Russian-backed government forces stopped immediately.
Syria’s military declared the ceasefire over on Monday, after a strike by US-led coalition warplanes on a Syrian army post, which killed dozens of troops. He told the UN General Assembly in NY that his belief was stronger than ever for victory.
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If so, he said it could amount to a war crime.
