Air strikes pound rebel-held Aleppo after fresh military campaign declared

The Syrian army launched an intense bombardment of rebel-held areas of the Aleppo on Friday morning, hours after the announcement of a "comprehensive" military operation that ended any hope of a ceasefire.

The Syrian military, which is backed by the Russian air force, said late on Thursday that it was starting a new operation against rebels in the east of the city, which is home to at least 250,000 people.

Since midnight on Friday there have reportedly been at least 100 separate air strikes in 15 rebel-held areas of the city.

The Syrian Civil Defence Force, also known as the White Helmets, said that three out of four of its rescue centres had been hit by Syrian government air strikes. 

The non-partisan humanitarian rescue group released pictures on social media showing the destruction from this mornings fresh round of attacks. 

Ammar al-Selmo, the head of the White Helmets in eastern Aleppo, told Reuters that five Russian jets were in the skies over the city.

He said a fresh wave of bombing had started at 6am (3am GMT) after heavy overnight attacks, and described the intense bombing as "annihilation".

"Can you hear it? The neighbourhood is getting hit right now by missiles. We can hear the planes right now," Mohammad Abu Rajab, a radiologist, told the Reuters news agency. "The planes are not leaving the sky, helicopters, barrel bombs, warplanes."

On Thursday night, the Syrian military had announced that it was beginning a fresh campaign in the city, warning residents to stay away from sites under control of "armed terrorist groups".

It also said there were procedures in place for those who wanted to "return to the bosom of the nation".

Sources inside the city told Middle East Eye that there had been over 20 separate air strikes, launched by warplanes and helicopters, on Friday morning.

A family was reportedly killed in the central Bustan al-Qasr district of the city, which has been divided between rebel and government control for years.

The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday, and officials have yet to confirm casualty figures. 

The estimated 250,000 residents of east Aleppo, which rebels opposing Bashar al-Assad's rule have held since 2012, have been living under siege since early September.

However, Assad on Thursday denied that rebel-held Aleppo was besieged, saying it was true, "people would be dead".

World powers on Thursday failed to reach a deal on reviving a short-lived ceasefire in Aleppo after what the UN's Syria mediator called a "long, painful, difficult and disappointing" meeting.

The International Syria Support Group, including the US, Russia and other major powers, met on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders in New York.

Russia and the United States on 9 September agreed a deal aimed at putting Syria's peace process back on track.

It included a nationwide truce, improved humanitarian aid access and the possibility of joint military operations against al-Qaeda-linked groups and Islamic State.

However, the truce effectively collapsed after a week when an aid convoy was bombed on Monday, killing at least 20 people.

The Assad government and Russia had complained of rebel violations of the ceasefire and the bombing of Syrian army troops by US-led coalition strikes in Deir Ezzor in the east of Syria on Sunday, which left at least 60 dead.

The UN's Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said on Thursday that the US and Russia, which back opposing sides in the war, had agreed to work "intensely on a possible restoration" of the ceasefire.

However, the powers are currently at loggerheads, locked in a bitter war of words over who is responsible for bombing the aid convoy on Monday.