Sibel Uğurlu
16 February 2016•Update: 16 February 2016
ALEPPO, Syria
Russian warplanes on Tuesday afternoon targeted a residential neighborhood in the opposition-held Sakhour district of Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo, killing four people and injuring seven from the same family, according to local civil defense sources.
Rescue workers, the same sources said, were still searching for survivors under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
One local activist in Aleppo known as Abu Ammar told Anadolu Agency that Russian warplanes had carried out airstrikes on Sakhour while the PYD -- the terrorist PKK group's Syrian affiliate -- had attacked the area from the ground.
''Russian jets are providing cover to PYD forces on the ground in Sakhour, allowing the latter to capture territory from which opposition forces had repelled them this morning,'' said Abu Ammar.
On the same day, Russian warplanes also reportedly struck the opposition-held town of Kafr Hamra on Aleppo’s northwestern outskirts, along with the opposition-held city of Azaz.
The attack on Azaz killed two people -- including a child -- and injured another seven, according to hospital sources.
Several of those seriously injured in the attack were sent to a hospital in the nearby Turkish province of Kilis.
Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.
