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On Wednesday, Syrian air forces killed over 20 people, including 17 children, in an air strike on the battered city of Aleppo, as civilians continue to bear the brunt of the brutal civil war in the country. The air strikes come a day after a twin car bomb attack, claimed by the al-Nusra Front, on a pro-regime area in Homs killed over a 100 people, as the country prepares for a Presidential election, which the US and the opposition have called “a parody of democracy”, despite the ongoing conflict.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the twin air strikes in Aleppo hit a school in the rebel-held Ansari neighborhood. Amateur video footage provided by activists show rows of bloodied bodies of children wrapped up in grey body bags. The children were reportedly participating in a drawing exhibition when the air strikes, ten minutes apart, struck the school. The opposition council in Aleppo condemned the attack, and appealed to the “world’s conscience” to take action in Syria, “for the sake of the values and principles you defend, because your silence is killing us”.
Rebel-held parts of Aleppo have been under intense aerial assaults since December. Human rights groups have particularly criticized the government’s use of barrel bombs as they are unguided and have taken many civilian lives. The Observatory added that within hours of the air strike, the al-Nusra Front conducted two suicide attacks in Aleppo’s countryside, killing and wounding “dozens of troops and pro-regime militiamen”.
On Tuesday, the al-Nusra Front claimed an attack on the Abbasiyeh neighbourhood in Homs, mainly inhabited by the minority Alawite community to which President Assad belongs. In a statement, it said, “God allowed the Al-Nusra Front’s fighters to achieve a feat despite draconian security measures. It is so that they (residents of pro-regime areas) taste the hell that our brothers have tasted”.
According to the Director of the Observatory Rami Abdel Rahman, the attacks are in the midst of a government offensive aimed to regain control of rebel-held parts of Homs. The escalation in attacks the armed opposition’s response to the regime, and proves that there will be no safe locations during the elections.