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| Unrelenting Assault on Aleppo Is Worst Yet in Five-Year Civil War | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Unfazed by Western accusations of war crimes and barbarity in the ferocious aerial assault on Aleppo, the Syrian government and its Russian ally intensively bombed the northern Syrian metropolis for the fourth consecutive day on Monday. Residents and rescuers there described the bombardment as among the worst yet in the five-year war. | Unfazed by Western accusations of war crimes and barbarity in the ferocious aerial assault on Aleppo, the Syrian government and its Russian ally intensively bombed the northern Syrian metropolis for the fourth consecutive day on Monday. Residents and rescuers there described the bombardment as among the worst yet in the five-year war. |
| Insurgent-held neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo were hit with dozens of air attacks in the predawn hours, killing and wounding many people, according to doctors, nurses and activists in the city. | Insurgent-held neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo were hit with dozens of air attacks in the predawn hours, killing and wounding many people, according to doctors, nurses and activists in the city. |
| The Aleppo Media Center, a group of antigovernment activists and citizen journalists who have sought to document the conflict, posted graphic video footage shot Sunday of bombing victims treated at a hospital in a rebel-held part of the city. | |
| Stockpiles of food and supplies have dwindled to near nothing on the rebel-held side, according to a report from Aleppo by Agence France-Presse. It also said a shortage of blood for transfusions had forced doctors at the few functioning hospitals to amputate limbs of the seriously wounded. | Stockpiles of food and supplies have dwindled to near nothing on the rebel-held side, according to a report from Aleppo by Agence France-Presse. It also said a shortage of blood for transfusions had forced doctors at the few functioning hospitals to amputate limbs of the seriously wounded. |
| Hundreds of people have been killed in Aleppo since Thursday, when Syrian and Russian warplanes sharply escalated the bombing of the divided city as a short-lived cease-fire negotiated by the Russians and Americans collapsed. | Hundreds of people have been killed in Aleppo since Thursday, when Syrian and Russian warplanes sharply escalated the bombing of the divided city as a short-lived cease-fire negotiated by the Russians and Americans collapsed. |
| The volume of bombings has increased, residents and rescue workers in Aleppo have said, and incendiary weapons and heavy-duty bombs that can destroy underground shelters have been used for the first time. | The volume of bombings has increased, residents and rescue workers in Aleppo have said, and incendiary weapons and heavy-duty bombs that can destroy underground shelters have been used for the first time. |
| At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday, the United States, Britain and other allies said that the Russians were abetting war crimes in Aleppo by the government of President Bashar al-Assad. | At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday, the United States, Britain and other allies said that the Russians were abetting war crimes in Aleppo by the government of President Bashar al-Assad. |
| “Bunker-busting bombs, more suited to destroying military instillations, are now destroying homes, decimating bomb shelters, crippling, maiming, killing dozens, if not hundreds,” Matthew Rycroft, Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, told the council session. Mr. Rycroft said that “in short, it is difficult to deny that Russia” is committing war crimes. | “Bunker-busting bombs, more suited to destroying military instillations, are now destroying homes, decimating bomb shelters, crippling, maiming, killing dozens, if not hundreds,” Matthew Rycroft, Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, told the council session. Mr. Rycroft said that “in short, it is difficult to deny that Russia” is committing war crimes. |
| Samantha Power, his American counterpart, accused the Russians of “barbarism.” | Samantha Power, his American counterpart, accused the Russians of “barbarism.” |
| Russia’s government, which has called the military campaign a necessary response to terrorist groups in Syria, responded harshly on Monday to the criticism, warning that it carried the risk of further alienation between Russia and the West. | Russia’s government, which has called the military campaign a necessary response to terrorist groups in Syria, responded harshly on Monday to the criticism, warning that it carried the risk of further alienation between Russia and the West. |
| “We note the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States, which can damage and harm our relations,” Dimitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters in Moscow on Monday. | “We note the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States, which can damage and harm our relations,” Dimitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters in Moscow on Monday. |
| Mr. Peskov said moderate Syrian opposition groups backed by the United States and Western and Arab allies had not complied with the terms of the cease-fire, by failing to separate themselves from the jihadist fighters of the Nusra Front, which now calls itself the Levant Conquest Front. | Mr. Peskov said moderate Syrian opposition groups backed by the United States and Western and Arab allies had not complied with the terms of the cease-fire, by failing to separate themselves from the jihadist fighters of the Nusra Front, which now calls itself the Levant Conquest Front. |
| “Terrorists continue their encroachments, they continue offensives,” he said, so that “naturally the fight against terrorists is ongoing, and must not be stopped.” | “Terrorists continue their encroachments, they continue offensives,” he said, so that “naturally the fight against terrorists is ongoing, and must not be stopped.” |
| International aid groups that have long denounced the indiscriminate brutality of the Syrian war were aghast at the intensified bombings in Aleppo. The city is home to roughly two million people, including at least 250,000 who live in the insurgent-held eastern zones. | International aid groups that have long denounced the indiscriminate brutality of the Syrian war were aghast at the intensified bombings in Aleppo. The city is home to roughly two million people, including at least 250,000 who live in the insurgent-held eastern zones. |
| One Syrian ambulance crew called Shafak said on Sunday that half the dead it had collected over the weekend were children, according to Save the Children, an international charity. Forty percent of the population in eastern Aleppo are children, Save the Children said, a fact that helps to explain the high rates of young casualties. | One Syrian ambulance crew called Shafak said on Sunday that half the dead it had collected over the weekend were children, according to Save the Children, an international charity. Forty percent of the population in eastern Aleppo are children, Save the Children said, a fact that helps to explain the high rates of young casualties. |
| The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, a Cincinnati-based group that supports hospitals in Syria, said the use of bunker-busting bombs in recent days had made the crisis more desperate. | The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, a Cincinnati-based group that supports hospitals in Syria, said the use of bunker-busting bombs in recent days had made the crisis more desperate. |
| “These bombs have the capacity to destroy fortified hospitals, medical points and underground shelters (where tens of thousands are taking shelter) at high risk,” the group said in a statement. | “These bombs have the capacity to destroy fortified hospitals, medical points and underground shelters (where tens of thousands are taking shelter) at high risk,” the group said in a statement. |
| The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly denounced what he has called the Syrian government’s culpability in most civilian casualties of the war, also expressed shock at the use of bunker-busting bombs. | The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly denounced what he has called the Syrian government’s culpability in most civilian casualties of the war, also expressed shock at the use of bunker-busting bombs. |
| “These bombs are not busting bunkers,” he said. “They are demolishing ordinary people looking for any last refuge of safety. International law is clear: The systematic use of indiscriminate weapons in densely populated areas is a war crime.” | “These bombs are not busting bunkers,” he said. “They are demolishing ordinary people looking for any last refuge of safety. International law is clear: The systematic use of indiscriminate weapons in densely populated areas is a war crime.” |
| The power of these bombs is far more destructive than the barrels stuffed with explosives and shrapnel that Syrian government forces have been dropping on rebel-held areas, where they kill and maim indiscriminately. | |
| An ordinary building hit by the so-called barrel bombs will crumble, but the bunker busters obliterate buildings and also leave deep and wide craters, said James Le Mesurier, director of the Stichting Mayday Rescue Foundation, a group that supports the civil defense search and rescue crews known as the White Helmets. | |
| While underground bunkers in eastern Aleppo have afforded civilians some measure of protection from barrel bombs, Mr. Le Mesurier said, the bunker busters leave no place to hide. | |
| Caroline Anning, a spokeswoman for Save the Children in southern Turkey, said Syrian relief workers she had spoken to in recent days told her they no longer felt safe in underground bunkers. | |
| Schools — such as they are, operating in basements — have been shut since early July in rebel-held eastern Aleppo. They were scheduled to resume on Saturday, Oct. 1, though that now seems unlikely, Ms. Anning said. | |
| There was little indication on Monday that diplomacy could be revived to stop the assault of Aleppo, with each side blaming the other. Mr. Assad and his subordinates, emboldened by Russia’s assistance, have said over the past week that they intend to retake the entire city by force if necessary. | |
| The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said in a television interview that he considered the United States responsible for the collapse of the cease-fire and that Mr. Ban’s comments on the Aleppo bombings were “shameful.” | |
| While it was possible that the Russians and Americans could try to revive the cease-fire, Mr. Moallem said, the United States needed to demonstrate it was “serious about its obligations.” | |
| Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters in Washington that diplomacy remains for now the only viable option for reducing the fighting in Syria and ending the war. | |
| However, Mr. Earnest said, “it is hard to imagine the United States reaching any other negotiated agreement with the Russians until they have lived up to the commitments they have already made.” |