Families flee Aleppo as Assad barrel bombs spread terror

Families in opposition-held districts of Aleppo have been forced to flee as barrel bombs dropped by Syrian government forces claimed more lives.

At least six people died in the latest attacks, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Barrel bombs are crude weapons, often made from oil drums or gas bottles packed with explosives and pieces of metal, that are thrown out of helicopters. Pressure group Human Rights Watch has condemned“an indiscriminate and unlawful air war against civilians by the Syrian government”.

Thousands of people are reported to have been killed and injured by aerial attacks in northern Syria this year, and tens of thousands have fled Aleppo.

Meanwhile rebel mortar fire on areas of the city controlled by President Bashar Assad’s forces has killed 21.