BEIRUT (AP) – Syrian government strikes hit opposition-held areas near the capital and in the country’s largest city, Aleppo, killing at least 25 Saturday while rebels fired mortars into Damascus, in a rare occurrence since the teetering cease-fire took effect in late February.
Western officials, including the U.N. envoy leading negotiations with Syria’s warring factions, have warned that a cease-fire was in danger of total collapse due to escalating violence and the walk-out by the Saudi-backed opposition group from the talks Monday. The opposition accuses the government of wrecking the talks with ongoing attacks while the government says it is only targeting terrorist groups who are not part of the cease-fire agreement.
The U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura said the talks will continue until Wednesday as planned, but said the two sides are “extremely polarized,” casting doubt on the ability to salvage the talks aimed at finding a political solution to the five-year conflict.
The violence on Saturday appeared set to only harden the opposition’s position. Anas al-Abda, the leader of the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition represented in the Geneva talks, lamented the international community’s “limpness” in responding to what he called “massacres” against civilians, in response to the Aleppo violence.
The airstrikes in rebel-held areas in Aleppo killed at least 12 people, including children, when they targeted a residential area and market in the Tareeq al-Bab district in the contested city, the activist-run Aleppo Media Center said. Images of the destruction posted on the AMC Facebook page and other sites showed destroyed buildings and rescue teams removing civilians from under rubble and the upper floors of destroyed buildings, including terrified women and children.