A day after al-Qaeda killed 19 civilians in attacks on government-held districts in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, the Syrian military launched a flurry of airstrikes, and both sides traded shelling, making for another deadly day in which 25 civilians were slain.
The largest tolls were in Aleppo itself, where districts on both sides saw marketplaces hit by shelling and rocket fire. 18 civilians were reported slain in several rebel-held districts, along with two civilians killed in a government district.
The White Helmets NGO, which offers rescue workers in war-torn areas, also reported five of their workers were killed in airstrikes against nearby al-Atarib, a town held by a group of Islamist rebel factions, including al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front.
The White Helmets insisted they are unsure if the airstrike was launched by the Syrian military or the Russians, but that their headquarters was hit in an overnight salvo. The group has repeatedly found itself in the line of fire, as their operations have put them in areas where all sides are firing indiscriminately at anything that moves.