Civilians slaughtered in fight over Aleppo

  • 13/08/2016
Civilians slaughtered in fight over Aleppo

Warning: This video contains graphic content that may disturb some viewers.

In Syria's largest city of Aleppo, civilians are being slaughtered in the crossfire between rebels and the Syrian government, which has the support of Russian airstrikes.

In a particularly shocking attack, a children's hospital and an open market have been hit, killing 18 people - just another statistic in the country's five-year civil war.

However, for the villagers of Al Hayan on the outskirts of the city, these victims were not numbers; they were mothers, sisters and - as always - children.

In video footage posted online, a rescue worker runs with a baby in his arms. Another man plucks an unconscious child off a dead body.

Injured children are taken to the few remaining medical facilities in rebel-controlled Aleppo. But instead of being safe havens, they have become targets.

Just 24 hours after the last remaining doctors wrote to US President Barack Obama for help, the children's hospital was hit in an airstrike.

The equipment was smashed, services all but demolished. It was the only children and women's hospital in the area.

In rebel-held Aleppo, a medical facility is attacked every 17 hours, say doctors.

The statistics mount, and in Aleppo there is always someone who has to deliver the worst possible news.

CBS News