Aleppo bombardment kills dozens including children

At least 34 people die, including civilians, amid intense shelling and air strikes on battle-stricken city.

At least 34 people have died in another day of bombardment in the Syrian city of Aleppo, a source inside the city told Al Jazeera.

The deaths on Tuesday came amid aerial bombardment, shelling and the use of barrel bombs by government helicopters over rebel-held districts.

Barrel bombs fell on the Salhen, Ferdos, and Jisr al-Haj districts of Aleppo, killing nine people including two children.

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Further shelling and air strikes in the Salahadeen, Sukary, Malaah, and Castello areas caused the deaths of 25 people, among them women and children.

Raids by warplanes continued overnight into Wednesday morning.

Those wounded in the strikes included independent journalist and activist Hadi al-Abdullah, who has been covering the battle for Aleppo from rebel-held areas.

Pictures posted on Twitter captured the moment Abdullah was hit by debris formed by a shell landing near his position.

Rebel losses

The bombing inside Aleppo came as rebel forces and government troops fought bloody clashes for its surrounding villages.

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At least 70 rebels were killed in separate clashes on Tuesday when government forces recaptured the village of Zeitan and in the village of Khalasah, which is still contested.

Since 2012, Aleppo has been fought over by rebels, government troops, and Kurdish factions, as well as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

ISIL was forced from the city in 2013, but still controls large parts of the surrounding countryside to its east.

In recent months, Syrian government forces backed by Russian jets, and Kurdish groups, have enclosed rebel areas, threatening their supply routes to the Turkish border.

The Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests in March 2011, has escalated into a multi-sided civil war.

The death toll has risen to more than 280,000 people, while half the country’s population have been forced from their homes, according to UN estimates.

Zouhir al-Shimale contributed to this report from Aleppo.

Bombing of Aleppo 15/6 [Zouhir al-Shimale/Al Jazeera]
Bombing of Aleppo 15/6 [Zouhir al-Shimale/Al Jazeera]
Source: Al Jazeera