'Syria and Russia are running out of civilian targets to hit in Aleppo'

The people trapped in the war-torn city are suffering a 'hellish' ordeal, writes Dominic Waghorn, and the situation has got worse.

People dig in the rubble in an ongoing search for survivors at a site hit previously by an airstrike in rebel-held Tariq al-Bab in Aleppo, Syria
Image: The aftermath of an airstrike in rebel-held Tariq al-Bab in Aleppo, Syria
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The world is wringing its hands in outrage at the blitz being unleashed on Aleppo by Russia and Syria.

So what? Nothing has been said yet that will stop it.

'Barbaric', 'war-crimes', 'blatant violations of international law'. Nato, Britain, the US, Europe and the UN have lined up to condemn the air campaign on eastern Aleppo.

The Pope is the latest to join in, saying the bombers will face God's judgement.  

Nothing has made a difference to the hellish ordeal suffered by 250,000 people trapped in a killing zone, where all the force of modern warfare is being let loose on the civilian population.

It has only got worse.

The Russian-Syrian airforces have in the last day hit Aleppo's two largest hospitals, a bakery and apartment blocks, in addition to the aid convoy struck last week.

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They are running out of civilian targets to hit.

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New ground assault on rebels in Aleppo

There is compelling evidence the joint Russian-Syrian air campaign is using 1,000lb bunker-busting bombs, incendiary bombs and cluster munitions on people's homes and the services they need to stay alive.

The strategy seems clear: to besiege rebels in the eastern half of the city and force its civilians to flee.

If life becomes untenable, they will have little choice.

The Financial Times today went further, asking if Russia's endgame is not simply to flatten the sector, as it did to Grozny in the Chechen War.

For now, another Russian city, Stalingrad - where Russians held out against the odds against the Germans until the Wehrmacht was forced to withdraw -  seems a better comparison.

Rebels have dug in and refused to yield, but face worsening odds.

A wounded woman is taken to hospital in Aleppo
Image: A wounded woman is taken to hospital in Aleppo

A ground offensive has reportedly begun.

Syrian regime forces, backed by Iranians and Shia militia, are said to have launched attacks to the north and south of the city and taken some ground.

It threatens to become urban combat at its nastiest, street by street fighting with ordinary families caught in the crossfire.

The stakes are high. The Syrian regime wants to take the whole of Aleppo. It can then claim control of all the country's major urban areas.

It will still face guerrilla warfare in the countryside, but will hope the victory will be a turning point in the war.

Assad knows he is up against the clock. Russia's commitment may eventually wane, although there is no sign of that yet.

More importantly, regime change is on its way. Not in Damascus, but Washington.

If Hillary Clinton takes the White House a more robust approach to both Russia and Syria is likely.

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Largest Aleppo hospitals targeted

The Washington Post today contemptuously summed up the Obama administration's current Syria policy as 'half-hearted support for the rebels who increasingly gravitate by necessity to more extremist groups, requests to the Russians to behave better and finger-wagging'.

Unsurprisingly, none of that is making Moscow think twice about the 21st century blitz it has unleashed on Aleppo.

Clinton is likely to try harder. Russia and Syria have a few months left in which to do their worst.

In that time, its people will discover how low they will go.