Free Republic

“DEVASTATING AND overwhelming.” Those are the conditions in the ancient and once-great metropolis of Aleppo, according to the head of delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Marianne Gasser, who was in the Syrian city recently. “We hear that dozens of civilians are being killed every day and scores more injured from shells, mortars and rockets,” Ms. Gasser said. “The bombing is constant. The violence is threatening hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, homes and livelihoods.”

The UN Security Council expressed outrage on Friday over a recent wave of barrel-bomb attacks in Syria's northern Aleppo province that have left scores dead, AFP reports. Russia, Syria's ally which has vetoed past resolutions against the Bashar Al-Assad regime, joined in a statement from the 15-member council condemning "all violence against civilians, and civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities." The statement was issued following a behind-closed-doors report on Thursday by senior UN aid official John Ging, who said the attacks on Aleppo were continuing. Ging estimated that some 3,600 people have been killed by barrel bombs in Aleppo alone since...