BEIRUT // Air raids on rebel-held districts of Aleppo killed 19 civilians on Saturday, including children, an opposition monitor said.
Barrel bombs – crude, unguided explosive devices – were dropped on several areas, with at least one striking just outside a hospital in the Maadi neighbourhood.
“Eleven civilians, including four children, were killed by air raids after midnight in the Bab Al Nasr area of Old Aleppo, and seven others were killed in Fardous neighbourhood,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that another young girl was killed in Maadi.
The Britain-based Observatory warned that the toll could rise due to the number of people critically wounded.
Following the air raids, helicopters and fighter jets were still circling rebel-held neighbourhoods.
The Observatory said rebel fighters also shelled government-controlled western areas of Aleppo, but had no immediate word on any casualties.
Aleppo is divided roughly between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.
A ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States in February between government forces and non-extremist rebels does not include Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al Nusra which has a strong presence in many rebel-held areas of the city.
The truce has been routinely violated, particularly in and around Aleppo.
Last week, government forces advanced to within firing range of the last remaining supply route into rebel-held areas of the city, prompting food shortages and spiralling prices.
According to the United Nations, nearly 600,000 people are living under siege across Syria, most of them surrounded by government forces although rebel groups also use the brutal tactic.
More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions more forced to flee their homes since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011.
* Agence France-Presse