A human rights group reports that military forces for Syrian President Bashar Assad have shot several ballistic missiles into the rebel stronghold city of Aleppo, leaving at least 141 adults and children dead.
The missile attacks have all taken place over the past week — at the same time Syria’s government was announcing its willingness to sit down with leading opposition force fighters and discuss terms of peace.
Human Rights Watch considers the missile firings an “escalation of unlawful attacks against Syria’s civilian population,” The Associated Press reports. Seventy children were among the dead, according to the human rights group. And one source in the AP report added that an estimated 20 buildings were destroyed in each site that was hit by missile.
Aleppo has been a major point of fighting between Syrian and rebel fighters for the entire two years the conflict has raged.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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