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'Air strikes kill 12 in rebel-held areas of Syria's Aleppo'

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AFP Beirut
Air strikes killed at least 12 civilians including children in two rebel-held neighbourhoods of Syria's Aleppo city today, a monitoring group said.

Nine people were killed in the Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood, and another three in the district of Salhin in the east of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The Britain-based group said it was unclear whether the strikes were carried out by warplanes of the Syrian government or its ally Russia.

Video obtained by AFP of the aftermath of the attack in Salhin showed smoke billowing from the front of a multi-storey building shorn of its facade by the strikes.
 

The charred skeleton of a car, its windows blown out, sat in front of the building.

Civil defence workers battled a fire sparked by the attack, while civilians with ladders retrieved belongings from the ruins.

"Total destruction," said resident Jomaa Hassan, gesturing to a smoking building behind him.

"These are civilians: a taxi driver, a municipal worker. These are the terrorists in their eyes."

Aleppo city is divided roughly between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.

Last week, government forces advanced to within firing range of the only remaining supply route into the rebel-held east, effectively cutting it off and prompting food shortages and spiralling prices.

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First Published: Jul 14 2016 | 6:48 PM IST

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