BEIRUT (AP) – At least 18 people were killed Friday when airstrikes hit several rebel-held neighborhoods in Syria’s contested northern city of Aleppo, anti-government activists said, an escalation that placed added strain on a fragile cease-fire.
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and former commercial center, has seen sporadic clashes since the cease-fire took effect in late February, as government troops have advanced, boxing in opposition-held areas from all sides except for a corridor from the northwestern edge of the city.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 19 people were killed in the airstrikes in Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood and other parts of the city controlled by rebels. The Observatory described the series of airstrikes as the most intense on the city since the cease-fire began. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist-operated media outlet, said at least 18 people were killed in Friday’s airstrikes.
The February cease-fire has been teetering amid rising violence. U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva to resolve the Syria conflict have been bogged down after the Saudi-backed opposition delegation suspended its participation and the warring sides traded accusations.
The High Negotiations Committee, which represents most of the opposition at the U.N.-brokered talks, accuses the government of repeatedly violating the U.S. and Russian-brokered cease-fire, illegally detaining thousands of people and blocking humanitarian aid access.