As Russian war planes struck rebel held areas north of Aleppo and the Syrian army shelled the besieged old quarter in a major offensive on Saturday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) decried the "bloodbath," saying the battleground city's eastern rebel-held portion had become "a giant kill box." "Bombs are raining from Syria-led coalition planes and the whole of east Aleppo has become a giant kill box," MSF director of operations Xisco Villalonga said in a statement on Friday. "The Syrian government must stop the indiscriminate bombing, and Russia as an indispensable political and military ally of Syria has the responsibility to exert the pressure to stop this," he said. The air strikes focused on major supply lines into rebel-held areas — the Castello Road and Malah district — while fighting raged in the Suleiman Al-Halabi neighborhood, the front line to the north of Aleppo's Old City. An army source quoted in state media said its forces had made advances, which was denied by rebels who say they had repelled a new assault. "They are shelling the old city heavily after another failed attempt to gain ground. They have lost several fighters and we are steadfast," said Abu Hamam, a rebel from the Failaq Al-Sham group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that monitors the war, reported heavy bombardment by government forces and "back and forth" fighting in the Suleiman Al-Halabi neighborhood. The army said it would press its advantage after retaking the strategic Handarat camp north of Aleppo on Thursday. On Friday, civil defense sources said air strikes on rebel held residential areas killed at least 30 people with the use of incendiary and phosphorous bombs causing extensive damage and fires. The Observatory said at least 20 were killed by sustained Russian and Syrian army strikes and artillery shelling on Friday and into the early hours of Saturday. State media said rebel mortar attacks on government-held Midan and other areas in the city killed at least 20 people. In leaked audio published by the New York Times, US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed frustration that his diplomatic efforts to end Syria's civil war had not been backed up by US military force. "I've argued for the use of force... but things evolved into a different process," he said to a group of Syrian civilians last week in New York. UN chief Ban Ki-moon also announced he was setting up an internal board of inquiry to investigate the September 19 bombing of an aid convoy in Syria that killed 18 people. The US has blamed the bombing on Moscow, which denies the accusation. The Syrian military and its allies launched a Russian-backed offensive nearly 10 days ago aimed at capturing rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo that are home to more than 250,000 people. Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial hub before civil war began in 2011, has been divided into government and opposition sectors for four years.
