Al-Qaeda Shells Syria’s Aleppo, Killing 19 Civilians

Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front, has launched a flurry of attacks against government-held districts in the major northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 19 civilians and wounding 120 others, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory also reported Syrian forces fired against al-Qaeda-held areas nearby, killing at least four civilians, adding to three days of attacks around the area by both sides which have killed over 60 people, overwhelmingly civilians.

Aleppo was seen as the key to victory early in the Syrian Civil War, but has been contested for years, and now is just a series of districts separated by bombed out ruins and barricades, leaving open the question of if Syria’s former industrial capital will ever truly recover.

In recent weeks, Aleppo has been the focus of both al-Qaeda and the Syrian military, with both sides trying to shift the battle in their favor. Despite huge death tolls over that period, the fighting in the area seems no closer to a resolution.