8 schoolchildren among 10 killed in militant shelling of government-held west Aleppo – reports
Eight schoolchildren have been killed along with two adults in fresh attacks on educational and health facilities in government-held western Aleppo, government SANA news agency reports.
The pupils, aged 7 to 12, were killed when a rocket hit a basic education school in the al-Forqan neighborhood, a SANA reporter on the scene said. The attack also wounded 27 other children, including a girl whose leg had to be amputated, the report said.
In separate attacks, two people were killed and 32 injured in the al-Shahbaa neighborhood at the Faculty of Law, al-Basel Hospital for Cardiac Surgery, and Fawzi al-Jesri School, the agency added.
SANA called it a “terrorist” attack, without specifying which extremist group was responsible.
Jihadist militant groups have been shelling residential areas in western Aleppo on an almost daily basis since the Syrian Army, with the support of Russia and other allies, surrounded Al-Nusra Front terrorists and allied militants in eastern Aleppo, which has become a jihadist stronghold.
The West has accused Moscow and Damascus of causing civilian casualties in the area, while largely ignoring the atrocities committed by jihadists. The Russian and Syrian air forces suspended their activities in Aleppo on October 20 and have kept at least 10 kilometers from the city since then.
In the meantime, unrest is growing in rebel-held parts of the city, as the population has no food and is not being allowed to leave. Desperate civilians have even attempted to seize a food storage depot used by the terrorists, the Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier in November.
All routes out of eastern Aleppo are extremely dangerous, as the terrorists have mined the streets leading to humanitarian corridors set up to allow civilians and militants who have decided to quit the resistance to escape. Those who do attempt to flee are being shot at and killed by the militants, according to local reports, which also assert that executions are being carried out in the area on a daily basis.
