Civil Defence’s headquarter have been hit in Aleppo, putting further pressure onto their already over-stretched resources. Photographer: Basem Ayoubi/Images Live
Aleppo, Syria – 24th September 2016: Tens of dozens of civilians have been killed and injured today since early morning during an intense air bombardment in Aleppo. Several areas in the town have been destroyed by airstrikes carried out by what activists have argued are Russian and Syrian jets, although Russia has not confirmed its participation in the latest campaign in Aleppo
Yesterday Aleppo was subject to an extremely intense airstrike campaign, which the town had not witnessed before. The new type of rockets used penetrated three meters in the ground before exploding, causing big craters in the ground and sending what are perceived to be earthquake waves to the surrounding area. They aim to destroy underground fortifications such as tunnels and bunkers.
The bombardment caused a huge amount of fear among the people in Aleppo and turned it into a ghost town with the uninterrupted sound of bombardment in the background since the raids were intense and continuous.
The Civil Defence were struggling to a great extent to rescue people out of the rubble of the hit buildings. Many different areas in the town had been targeted and therefore they had to attend to different areas far away from each other. They were working while air bombardments were taking place. They also faced many other challenges such as the shortage of petrol, which prevented civilians from carrying casualties to hospital using their own vehicles. Hospitals were full up and the injured were laid on the floor. Moreover, the Civil Defence had to stop working at night since any light would be deemed a target by the jets. And the shelling at night was also quite intense. Some of the Civil Defence’s own headquarters were targeted.
The western countryside of Aleppo was badly hit yesterday. Images Live was present there and filmed the bombardment in different areas of the countryside. Images live can confirm that in Bisqaten, in the Aleppo countryside, one woman was killed during the bombardments and two children were injured.
It seems that the intense air campaign on Aleppo is a prelude by the regime to be followed by a ground offensive. The regime would want to launch the ground offensive before the opposition attempts to break the siege of the town. Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, an Islamist group, which is part of the opposition in the Syrian conflict, as well as one of the most influential factions in Aleppo, has just joined the Army of Conquest or Jeish al-Fahta.
The rebel stronghold of Handatar a few kilometres north of Aleppo has been recently captured by the regime, after having been in rebel hands for years. Its capture stands for the first major ground advance in the offensive against the city.
Report: Tina Lozio/Images Live
Editor: Anna Samuels/Images Live
