Militants Killed 84 Civilians in Aleppo

Syria’s Army said on Monday the Nusra Front and what the army called other terrorist groups had killed 84 people, mostly women and children, in Aleppo during the past three days, in a bombardment that included chemical weapons and rocket fire.

The Nusra Front broke allegiance with Al-Qaeda and changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in July. It is one of the main rebel groups taking part in an offensive against government-held western Aleppo that began on Friday, Reuters reported.

Syrian state media reported on Sunday that militants had fired poison gas at the Hamdaniya District of government-held western Aleppo. The militants denied the report.

In a statement on Monday, the army and Armed Forces High Command said militants had targeted schools and civilians, fired 20 poison gas canisters, 50 Grad rockets and ignited 48 fires.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said it had recorded 48 deaths since the militant offensive began, including 17 children.

The insurgent offensive against government-held western Aleppo comes more than a month into an operation by the army to retake the city’s militant-held eastern districts, which it had already put under siege.