91 feared dead in fierce Aleppo air strikes

BEIRUT: Warplanes bombed Aleppo on Friday with what residents described as unprecedented ferocity after the Russian-backed Syrian army declared an offensive to fully capture Syria's biggest city, killing off any hope of reviving a ceasefire.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave an initial death toll of 27, but Hamza al Khatib, the head of a hospital in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, said that 91 people had been killed in Friday's bombardment while the Civil Defence rescue group that operates in opposition areas said 40 buildings were destroyed.

Video images filmed by residents showed a young girl screaming as rescuers frantically dug her out of rubble, pulling her out alive. Another showed rescuers digging out a toddler with their bare hands. The boy showed no signs of life as he was rushed off in a rescuer's arms.

Ammar al Selmo, the head of the Civil Defence, said the rescuers themselves were targeted. "What's happening now is annihilation in every sense of the word," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2016.