Air raids pound Aleppo as US decries 'war crimes'

Air strikes pummelled the shrinking rebel enclave in Aleppo today as US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Syrian regime's "indiscriminate bombing" amounted to crimes against humanity.
Western powers meeting in Paris called for the resumption of peace talks and for civilians to be allowed to leave Aleppo, where tens of thousands have already fled a fierce regime offensive.
The diplomatic flurry came as a US-backed alliance announced it would launch the second phase of its battle for the Islamic State group's de facto Syrian capital Raqa further east.
The regime's more than three-week-old assault aimed at retaking all of Aleppo has triggered mounting international outrage.

"The indiscriminate bombing by the regime violates rules of law, or in many cases, crimes against humanity, and war crimes," Kerry said after the talks in Paris, urging Russia to do its "utmost to bring it to a close".
US and Russian officials meanwhile were to gather in Geneva for what Kerry described as a bid to stop the city from "being absolutely, completely, destroyed".

Once the beating heart of Syria's industrial and commercial industries, Aleppo has witnessed some of the most brutal violence of the country's nearly six-year war.
In less than a month, forces loyal to President Bashar al- Assad have overrun around 85 per cent of east Aleppo, a rebel stronghold since 2012.

The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said the world is watching "the last steps" in the Aleppo battle and evacuating civilians must be a priority.
Air strikes and regime rocket fire battered the last remaining rebel districts today, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
An AFP correspondent in west Aleppo could hear the hum of airplanes circling above, coupled with bombardment and machine gunfire on the city's east.
The strikes were so intense that windows in the west rattled and plumes of smoke could be seen rising from several points across the city's skyline.
"The bombing is unreal," said Ibrahim Abu al-Leith, spokesman for the White Helmets rescue force inside Aleppo.

Abu al-Leith spoke to AFP from one of the last rebel- controlled zones in Aleppo's southeast, saying he had been forced to move homes because of the intensity of the raids.
"The streets are full of people under the rubble. They are dying because we can't get them out," he added.