Government forces gain ground near Aleppo

But the deal has fallen apart, and on Thursday the Syrian army announced an operation to retake all of Aleppo, urging civilians in the east to distance themselves from “terrorists” and promising them safe passage to government-controlled areas.

“Depriving children of water puts them at risk of catastrophic outbreaks of water-borne diseases”, she said.

There was massive destruction in several neighbourhoods, including Al-Kalasseh and Bustan al-Qasr, where some streets were nearly erased by the bombardment.

It marks the most significant battle in Aleppo since the army announced a major new offensive to win full control of the city on Thursday, unleashing fierce air strikes that have killed scores of people in the rebel-held east.

The new government push came as the United Nations said that almost 2 million people in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and onetime commercial center, are without running water following an escalation in fighting over the past few days.

Damascus and its allies including Shi’ite militia from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon have encircled rebel-held areas of Aleppo gradually this year, achieving their long-held objective of fully besieging the area this summer with Russian air support. They said several attempts by the army to advance had failed.

A senior official in an Aleppo-based rebel faction, the Levant Front, told Reuters the weapons appeared created to bring down entire buildings.

Residents and activists described the use of a missile that produced earthquake-like tremors upon impact and razed buildings right down to the basement level where many residents desperately seek protection during bombing.

A senior official in an Aleppo-based rebel faction, the Levant Front, told Reuters the weapons appeared created to bring down entire buildings.

The Observatory said the death toll in Aleppo is expected to rise since many people are in critical condition and rescue workers are still digging through the rubble.

Medics said they were carrying out many amputations to try to save the wounded, while supplies of blood and IV drips were running out.

Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said the raids are intense and won’t stop.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), now controlling parts of it.

For days, videos and photographs from eastern Aleppo have shown flattened buildings and paramedics pulling bodies from the rubble.

The Observatory said that regime forces had captured Handarat Camp, located just north of Aleppo, after heavy clashes and multiple Russian air strikes.

The Syrian military, which is backed by the Russian air force, said it was starting a new operation against the rebel-held east.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov again in NY on Friday to try to restore the ceasefire, but without success.

Aleppo has a strategic importance for the warring parties due to its location near the Turkish borders, and being Syria’s largest province, and once the economic hub of Syria.

“Since the beginning of the crisis, Aleppo has not been subjected to such a vicious campaign”, said Mohammed Abu Jaafar, a forensics expert based in the city.

An army source told Reuters on September 23 that the offensive would be “comprehensive”, with a ground assault following air and artillery bombardment. Mr. Lavrov said Friday that Russian Federation agreed with the US that there is “no military solution” to the five-year conflict, while Mr. Kerry said they had made “a little bit of progress” in brief talks.

The Syrian war has seen more than 400,000 people killed and nearly 11 million Syrians – half the country’s prewar population – displaced.