At least 23 civilians were killed today and over 100 others wounded as Syrian rebels shelled a government-held district in the major northern city of Aleppo, with state media reporting the strikes hit near Jamae al-Raham Mosque in a residential area.
Before the Syrian Civil War, Aleppo was the nation’s industrial and financial capital, though a battle that began years ago for control of the city ended indecisively, leaving the city split and much of the industrial areas bombed out from ongoing clashes.
Syria’s state media was fiercely critical of today’s shellings, saying that “terrorists” were attacking the area around of mosque at a time when children were there for religious instruction, and were trying to “terrorize” the general public.
Of course, both sides in the battle for Aleppo have regularly attacked civilian areas held by the other, with Syrian military barrel bombs often killing civilians in rebel territory. The locals, by and large, are treated as pawns by all the combatants.