Aleppo bleeds on
Residents flee death from above as 'truce' takes place elsewhere
Terrified residents fled a new wave of air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria's second city Aleppo yesterday, as a "freeze" in fighting held on two other fronts.
Aleppo was left out of the temporary US-Russian brokered truce, which appeared intact in the regime stronghold of Latakia as well as Damascus and the nearby rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta.
In Aleppo's rebel-held east, dozens of civilians left the battered district of Bustan al-Qasr early yesterday morning, an AFP correspondent said.
Once Syria's economic hub, Aleppo and its surrounding countryside have suffered some of the worst fighting in a conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
Aleppo has been divided between regime control in the west and rebel control in the east since 2012. More than 246 civilians have died in shelling, rocket fire and air strikes in both sides of the city since April 22, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
At least six civilians died in rebel-controlled areas yesterday, including Bab al-Nairab and Bustan al-Qasr districts, the civil defence said.
The few people out on the streets in the city's east watched the sky anxiously for regime aircraft, running for shelter when one launched a new raid.
On other fronts, fighting halted at 1:00am yesterday (2200 GMT Friday) in a "freeze" set to last for 24 hours in Damascus and Eastern Ghouta, and 72 hours Latakia.
In the face of international pressure to halt the air strikes in Aleppo, Russia yesterday said it would not ask the Syrian regime to halt air raids, as it believes they are helping to combat jihadist groups, Moscow's foreign ministry said.