Activists said that at least 20 civilians, including children, were killed and many more wounded in intensified aerial bombing of Aleppo on Friday by regime and Russian forces.
The most violent of the airstrikes targeted a popular market in the neighborhood of al-Salihin, causing civilian casualties. Airstrikes also targeted the neighborhoods of Bustan al-Qasr, al-Ansari, al-Mash’had, Bab al-Hadid, and al-Sha’ar.
Civil defense teams in the town of Anadan north of Aleppo said that three people were killed and around 15 others were injured on Friday evening in a barrel bomb attack by the Assad regime.
The Syrian Coalition said that the massacres the Assad regime has committed over the past few days provide yet further evidence of the legality of the HNC’s decision to suspend participation in the Geneva negotiations and to postpone consultations. The Coalition reiterated its rejection of any attempts to use the humanitarian issues as a bargaining chip in negotiations.
“Favorable conditions for the political process cannot be created whilst the Assad regime’s killing machine continues to wreak death across Syria. The international community needs to realize that those who kill civilians cannot be partners in any transitional process,” the Coalition added.
The UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura on Friday said that the “cessation of hostilities” in Syria is in danger, calling for a quick intervention by the sponsor states to salvage the agreement. He pointed out that the current round of talks would continue until Wednesday despite the Syrian opposition’s suspension of participation in official meetings in Geneva. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
