Aid Workers Killed as Airstrikes Target Nusra Rebels Around Syria’s Aleppo

Nine Rebels, Four Medics Among the Slain

Overnight airstrikes against the town of Khan Touman, in the area adjacent to Nusra Front-held western Aleppo, killing at least four medical workers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is as yet unclear who launched the strikes.

Unlike a lot of previous airstrikes, which killed only civilians and aid workers, the Observatory report on these strikes say that nine Nusra Front rebels were also killed in the same attacks. The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations confirmed their aid workers were the ones slain.

Last week was a rare period of calm across Syria, as a ceasefire held for much of the week, only to start collapsing over the weekend, with a major US attack against a Syrian Army base. The ceasefire was declared over Monday, and airstrikes and fighting seem to be picking up once again.

The Nusra Front and the Syrian government each control half of Aleppo, once the financial and industrial capital of Syria. Nusra captured the western half over the past six months, and the two sides have been trading strikes ever since.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.