SYRIA: ASSAD REGIME BOMBS CLAIM 85 LIVES IN ALEPPO

Aleppo, 13 Shaban 1436/31 May 2015 (MINA) – At least 85 people were killed in alleged barrel bomb attacks carried out by the Assad regime in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on Saturday, a Syrian opposition coalition said.

According to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, at least 70 people were killed and 90 others were injured when regime helicopters dropped two barrel bombs on the al-Bab city in Aleppo province.

Elsewhere, regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the al-Sheaar neighbourhood in Aleppo city that left 15 people dead and 20 others injured, the sources added, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

The Istanbul-based Syrian Revolution General Commission is a coalition of Syrian political and media groups opposed to the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The figures were provided by the commission yet could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition forces have reportedly seized control of Ariha town in the west of Idlib city on Thursday from regime forces.

Anadolu Agency sources on the ground reported they observed opposition forces in the main square of the town.

Ammar Abu Hassan, a commander of Jaish al-Fatah, a unified group of various opposition factions, told the agency that the regime forces had retreated without resistance after heavy shelling from his forces.

Opposition fighters had taken control of the town and captured a number of regime forces as well as members of Hezbollah, Abu Hassan claimed.

Syrian opposition factions under the joint military command Jaish al-Fatah had seized control of Idlib city on March 28.

The Syrian civil war, which is in its fifth year, has seen more than 211,000 people killed and millions displaced. (T/P002/NMT)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)