Aleppo
Tragic suicide note of Aleppo nurse who killed herself to avoid rape by Syrian army
A nurse trapped in besieged Aleppo has penned a heartbreaking letter explaining why she’s chosen to end her own life rather than face rape at the hands of ‘Syrian army animals’. This letter, as well as reports from rebels in the Syrian second city suggest female survivors are at risk of being assaulted, with...
Syria conflict: ‘Families leave’ besieged Aleppo
Dozens of families have left besieged eastern areas of the city of Aleppo along a humanitarian corridor, Syrian state media says. The civilians boarded buses and were taken to temporary shelters, state news agency Sana said. Some rebels had also surrendered to government forces, the report said. Russia, an ally of the Syrian...
Syrian army takes main road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo
The Syrian army and pro-government forces have taken control of the main road leading into rebel-held areas in Aleppo, effectively cutting off the rebels' main supply route, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sunday. Aleppo has been a major battlefield in Syria since 2010, with fierce fighting between...
Syria conflict: Rebels launch attack in divided Aleppo
Syrian rebel fighters have launched an assault on government-held districts of Aleppo, after troops cut their only route into the divided northern city. The rebel operation began at dawn on several fronts, with hundreds of shells being fired at western areas. State media said eight people were killed and dozens hurt by the...
Syria conflict: Rebels launch attack in divided Aleppo
Syrian rebel fighters have launched an assault on government-held districts of Aleppo, after troops cut their only route into the divided northern city. The rebel operation began at dawn on several fronts, with hundreds of shells being fired at western areas. State media said eight people were killed and dozens hurt by the...
Syria conflict: Hospital ‘hit in Aleppo air strike’
At least 15 people are reported to have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of air strikes on rebel-held areas in the Syrian city of Aleppo. One of the strikes hit near the Bayan hospital in the eastern Shaar district, activists and a monitoring group said. Video footage, purportedly of the aftermath, showed bodies being...
Syria conflict: Aleppo ceasefire extended by three days
A truce in the Syrian city of Aleppo has been extended for three days to "prevent the situation from worsening", the Russian defence ministry says. The Syrian army announced a two-day truce on Wednesday, after two weeks of clashes left nearly 300 civilians dead. The truce is part of international efforts to build on a...
Syria conflict: Russia hopes to extend truce to Aleppo
Russia's foreign minister says a unilateral truce declared by the Syrian military could be extended to the city of Aleppo "in the next few hours". Sergei Lavrov said Russia was working with the UN and US to include Aleppo in the "regime of calm" that has covered Damascus and Latakia since Saturday. But...
Syria conflict: Aleppo rocked by fresh fighting
Deadly fighting has resumed in Syria's divided second city of Aleppo, after a brief lull overnight. State media say rebels shelled a mosque in the government-held district of Bab al-Faraj, killing eight people. Rescue workers report that a clinic in rebel-held Marja was targeted in an air strike, the second medical facility...
Syrian Cease-fire Fraying; Aleppo in Regime Sights
Rebel commanders and opposition politicians who have been battling to unseat Syrian Presidential Bashar al-Assad for five years say the cessation of hostilities brokered by the U.S. and Russia in February is on the verge of collapse, and they are readying for a regime offensive on Aleppo. Anti-Assad activists say they have...
Aleppo fighting displaces 50,000 people, says Red Cross
A surge in fighting in Syria's Aleppo province has displaced about 50,000 people, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned. The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly, the ICRC added, with water supplies to Aleppo city cut. The Syrian government is attempting to recapture rebel-held parts of...
In Aleppo, underground schools face bombardments and burnout
At the unofficial schools run by Syrian activist group Kesh Malek in opposition-held districts of Aleppo, the children don't go outside to play during breaks in case a barrel bomb should drop from the sky. With 110 teachers, most of them new to the profession, the organization runs seven schools serving around 3,000...