Fresh strikes pound Aleppo ahead of UN Syria talks

Syrian and Russian warplanes again pounded rebel-held east Aleppo today ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the worst surge in violence to hit the devastated city in years.
Residents and a monitor reported heavy air raids overnight and early today on the besieged east of the city, which Syria's army has pledged to retake.
The UN Security Council was due to meet later in an emergency session to discuss the escalating violence, which UN chief Ban Ki-moon described as "chilling".
Washington and its European allies said before the meeting that the burden was on Moscow - a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad's regime - to save a truce that fell apart in the past week.

At least 115 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syrian and Russian bombardment of eastern Aleppo since the army on Thursday announced an operation to take it, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The monitor said at least 19 children were among those killed in the assault, which has included missile strikes, barrel bomb attacks and artillery fire.

Residents said cluster bombs rained down last night on eastern parts of the city, where an estimated 250,000 people are living under a government siege.
"All night long they were dropping cluster bombs. I couldn't sleep until four in the morning," said 62-year-old Ahmed Hajar, who was out looking for bread in Al-Kalasseh neighbourhood.

"Today the streets of my neighbourhood are full of unexploded cluster bombs. One person was killed when he disturbed one and it exploded," he added.
"It tore him apart... It was an awful scene."
In the nearby neighbourhood of Bab al-Nayrab, 30-year-old Imad Habush was baking bread in a small wood-burning oven outside his house.
"None of the bakeries are open any more because of the bombing and the shortages of fuel and flour, so people have started making their own bread," he said.
"I don't know why the regime is bombing us in this barbaric way. We're civilians here, we're not carrying weapons, and we're besieged, we have no way to escape."

Air strikes were continuing on the eastern neighbourhoods today, the Observatory said, with at least 14 civilians, including two children, killed since dawn.
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Security forces locked down the city centre after the bombings.
Homs has been under near full government control since May 2014 when rebels withdrew from the centre under a UN-brokered truce deal. But it has seen repeated bombings since, including twin attacks last year that killed 64.
The Observatory said that regime air strikes today also killed 13 civilians across the country, including three in the last rebel enclave of Homs, the Waer neighbourhood.

Six other civilians were killed in regime air raids on the besieged rebel-held town of Douma in Damascus province, and four in Khan Sheikhun, a town controlled by rebel and jihadists in Idlib province.
Like its jihadist rival IS, Fateh al-Sham is not party to a ceasefire between government forces and rebel groups taking part in the Geneva talks.
Despite renouncing links with Al-Qaeda last year, it remains blacklisted as a "terrorist" group by the United Nations and Western governments.
Syria's opposition is in a much weaker position compared to the last round of UN-brokered talks in April 2016, notably after losing their stronghold in eastern Aleppo.

Despite the setbacks on the ground, the HNC still insists that Assad leave power. Damascus says the president's future is not up for discussion.
For the UN, the talks are about "political transition", a term contained in Security Council resolution 2254 that provides the framework for the peace process.
"Transition means transferring the authorities to a transitional governance body," opposition negotiator Basma Kodmani said yesterday, specifying that in this body "there is no role for Bashar al-Assad".
De Mistura has admitted he was "not expecting miracles", but hoped this round could help build some momentum towards an eventual deal.
Rescue workers from Syria's White Helmets group -- the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary -- said they will not attend this weekend's Academy Awards due to intensified regime bombing.