A picture taken from a rebel-held area shows smoke billowing from buidings in the pro-regime Shiite town of Fuaa, in northwestern Idlib province, on December 6, 2016 following a reported rebel shelling. AFP / Omar haj kadour
ALEPPO, Syria: At least 53 civilians were killed Tuesday in regime attacks in the northwestern city of Aleppo, according to a civil defense official who spoke to Anadolu Agency.
Necip Ensari, who operates in the city, said 200 other civilians were injured in the attacks.
A total of 828 civilians have been killed in regime attacks in the area since mid-November, according to figures released by local civil defense officials.
The fierce bombardments have forced hospitals and other medical facilities in the war-battered city to cease operations while most academic activities have been completely halted.
The stepped-up attacks come within the context of attempts by the Russia-backed Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies to wrest control of eastern parts of the city four years after they were captured by armed opposition groups.
Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.
