Government Airstrikes on Aleppo Hit Children’s Hospital

Resumed government airstrikes on Aleppo have reportedly hit a children’s hospital, a blood bank and ambulances, BBC News reported.

The airstrikes, on eastern rebel-held Aleppo city, resumed on Tuesday following a three-week hiatus declared by Russia, a key ally of the Syrian government. At least 21 people were killed amid government missiles, barrel bombs and artillery on a number of rebel-held neighborhoods, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The Bayan Children’s Hospital was badly damaged in the offensive, reported the Independent Doctors Association, which provides support to several medical facilities in Syria. A paramedic was also killed in the onslaught, said the rescue group Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets.

On Wednesday, airstrikes on rebel-held areas of western Aleppo province killed a further 19 people, SOHR said.

30 Al-Qaida Fighters Killed in Airstrikes, Russian Military Says

Russian airstrikes on northern Syria killed at least 30 fighters from an al-Qaida-affiliated group, according to a statement from the Russian military, the Associated Press reported.

The airstrikes targeting the opposition-held province of Idlib took place on Tuesday, said Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry. Launched from the recently deployed Russian aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, the airstrikes reportedly hit the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS) group, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra.

Three prominent al-Qaida leaders were killed in the airstrikes, said Konashenkov, including Abul Baha al-Asfari, who had spearheaded the group’s efforts to break the government siege on Aleppo.

Russia announced its air campaign earlier this week, saying it will target only militants from the so-called Islamic State and JFS. It claimed airstrikes on Idlib and Homs but denied bombing Aleppo.

Russia announced its new offensive hours after a phone call between Russian president Vladimir Putin and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. The two discussed Syria, agreeing to work together to target “international terrorism and extremism.”

YPG Forces to Withdraw from Manbij, Turkish-Backed Forces Advance Toward al-Bab

The YPG Syrian Kurdish militia will withdraw from the town of Manbij in rural Aleppo to join an offensive against the so-called Islamic State in Raqqa, the group’s stronghold, Reuters reported.

The YPG was one of the main forces participating in the liberation of Manbij from ISIS. Its statement on moving to the eastern province of Raqqa was welcomed by U.S. special envoy Brett McGurk on Twitter, who said all YPG units would leave Manbij once they had finished training local security units.

Turkey, however, has said Kurdish forces should not be part of the offensive to retake Raqqa. Ankara views the YPG as an extension of its own Kurdish militia, the PKK, which has been fighting for autonomy since the 1980s. Ankara has repeatedly demanded the YPG leaves its positions and withdraws to east of the Euphrates River.

Syrian rebels backed by Turkey are just 1.2 miles (2km) away from al-Bab, ISIS’s last stronghold west of the Euphrates River, said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

“The siege is continuing as planned,” Erdogan told a press conference in Ankara.

Al-Bab is of strategic importance to Turkey, which wants to take it from ISIS before Kurdish-led forces do. The U.S.-led coalition is not providing support for the Turkish-led offensive on al-Bab.

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