Live Updates: The previous post in our Putin in Syria column can be found here.
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC), an activist group which has been confirming and documenting casualties and other events in Syria since the start of the conflict, reports that nearly one hundred people were killed nationwide yesterday, many of them having been killed by Russian and Syrian air strikes. Here is their summary of the events of November 20:
By the end of Sunday, November 20, 2016, LCC has documented the fall of 97 martyrs, including 20 children and 6 women.
66 martyrs from #Aleppo , including 14 children and 3 women, most of them passed away as Assad’s forces targeted Gazi Aintep road with thermobaric missiles and due to bombardment on the sieged neighborhoods of Aleppo, in addition to the martyrs during the clashes with Assad’s forces and Daesh.
15 from #Damascus_and_its_Suburbs , including 4 children and a woman, and most of them passed away as Assad’s forces shelled #Douma , #Irbin , and #Harasta in Eastern Ghouta.
12 from #Idlib , including 2 children and 2 women.
2 from #Homs .
1 from #Deir_Ezzour .
1 from #Daraa .
The LCC is posting more alarming news today. According to a report that is two hours old, heavy ground battles have been fought in eastern Aleppo as well as the eastern suburbs of Damascus, both places where various anti-Assad rebel groups are trying to push back against fresh offensives launched by the pro-Assad coalition.
But behind all of that fighting, civilians are paying the price. The LCC says that barrel bombs, some containing chlorine, have been dropped across eastern Aleppo. “Parachute missile attacks,” possibly a layman’s term for thermobaric weapons, have reportedly been dropped by the Russian air force. Russian thermobaric attacks have also been reported in Idlib, Hama and Lattakia provinces, and Russian air strikes have reportedly hit Douma, a major suburb of Damascus. Heavy fighting and bombardment has also reportedly cost lives in Homs, and civilians were reportedly injured in Dara’a.
Meanwhile, the LCC reports that the international coalition fighting the Islamic State has conducted an attack in al-Raqqah and civilians have been killed.
There Are No More Hospitals In Eastern Aleppo
According to multiple aid groups, including the Syrian American Medical Society, there is no longer a single operational hospital in all of eastern Aleppo — where most of the fighting is happening.
There are no more working hospitals in eastern Aleppo
Geneva (AFP) – There are no more functioning hospitals in the rebel-held eastern part of Syria's Aleppo, where more than 250,000 people are living under siege and many need urgent medical care, the UN has said.
Syria war: Air raid hits children's hospital in Aleppo
An air raid has hit a children's hospital in Syria's rebel-held east Aleppo, forcing medical staff to evacuate patients, including several newborn babies still in incubators. The moment of the attack on Friday was captured by an Al Jazeera crew, including journalist Amro Halabi, who was reporting on survivors of previous Syrian and Russian bombing raids on rebel-held parts of the city.
Russia has allegedly used bunker-buster bombs to target field hospitals which have been moved underground for safety. This is just one reason why many observers believe that Russia and the Assad government are not just bombing these hospitals by accident, but are deliberately hunting medical facilities and aid workers.
— James Miller