MSF: Aleppo death toll from Syrian bombing tops 100
By REUTERS
GENEVA - More than 100 people have been killed and others wounded by "barrel bombs" dropped by Syrian army helicopters on Aleppo that continued for a third day on Tuesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres MSF (Doctors Without Borders) said.The casualties have overwhelmed the already overstretched and often-damaged hospitals in the northern city, where MSF is providing medical supplies, the aid group said."For the past three days, the helicopters have been targeting different areas, among them a school and the Haydarya roundabout, where people wait for public transport vehicles," said Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF coordinator in Syria."Repeated attacks often lead to chaos and make it more difficult to treat the wounded, therefore increasing the number of fatalities," he said in a statement.President Bashar Assad's forces frequently deploy air power and artillery against rebel-held districts across Syria. They have been unable to recapture eastern and central parts of Aleppo, which rebels stormed in the summer of 2012, but they have driven rebel fighters back from towns to the southeast of the city in recent weeks.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which on Monday said 76 people had been killed by barrel bombs in Aleppo on Sunday, said 15 people, including two children, died in air raids by fighter jets on Aleppo's Shaar district on Tuesday.The Britain-based group did not say whether they were caused by barrel bombs, which are explosive-filled cylinders or oil barrels, often rolled out of the back of helicopters, that are capable of causing widespread casualties and significant damage.
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