Intense bombing campaign targets Syria civil defense centers

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is “appalled” by the current spike in violence around the contested Syrian city of Aleppo.

Kodmani added: “I think if we say it’s a moment of truth, it’s a moment of truth for the worldwide community, the United States, its allies, the U.N. And it’s a tragic moment for the population of Aleppo”.

“War crimes are being committed here in Aleppo”, French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters, adding: “They must not be unpunished and impunity is simply not an option in Syria”.

“We have begun reconnaissance, aerial and artillery bombardment”, he said.

In an interview with the Associated Press in Damascus, Assad also said deadly United States air strikes on Syrian troops last week were intentional, dismissing American officials’ statements that they were an accident.

“This course has no foundation, no logic”, said Rouhani, whose country has directed Iranian troops and Hezbollah forces in support of Assad.

“We have to stop the regime from being able to use aircraft against civilians”. The fresh round of intense strikes and reports of clashes on several edges of the city have sparked fears that a ground operation could be aimed at unseating rebels from Aleppo once and for all.

Both the USA and Russian Federation say the ceasefire accord Kerry and Lavrov announced two weeks ago in Geneva offers the only realistic chance for progress toward ending a conflict that has claimed more than 400,000 lives since the spring of 2011. The current offensive is the first major operation in Aleppo undertaken by the Assad regime since August.

Aleppo has endured a day of devastating air strikes with at least 45 civilians killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring body said.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF said the loss of mains supply posed serious health risks in rebel-held areas as the only alternative source of drinking water was from highly contaminated wells.

Seven people were killed in a strike as they queued to buy yoghurt at a market in the Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, which sits along the front line that divides the government-held west from the rebel-held east of the city.

Syrians in eastern Aleppo and other besieged cities and towns are facing a dire shortage of food, medicine and other supplies.

A truce deal hammered out by Russian Federation and the United States this month was meant to allow aid to be trucked into the east of the city.

The fragile ceasefire that went into effect on September 12 fell apart less than a week later after US-led coalition forces struck a Syrian position, killing scores of soldiers. The army says it is only targeting militants.

The Syrian civil war started as a largely unarmed uprising against Assad in March 2011, but quickly escalated into a full-blown armed conflict.

The Assad government and Russian Federation had complained of rebel violations of the ceasefire and the bombing of Syrian army troops by US-led coalition strikes in Deir Ezzor in the east of Syria on Sunday, which left at least 60 dead.

The United States and its European allies said Saturday it was up to Moscow to save the truce.

“Patience with Russia’s continued inability or unwillingness to adhere to its commitments is not unlimited”, the statement added.

“The Americans must understand that so long as they don’t implement their commitments, particularly for the rebels to distance themselves from…”