The United Nations says that intense airstrikes against rebel-held areas of the embattled city Aleppo have left 1.75 million people without running water, days into one of the most intense sieges of the war.

The U.N.’s children’s agency, said in a statement that a key water pumping station supplying people in the city’s east was damaged in airstrikes, and continuing violence is preventing crews from repairing it. In retaliation, the group said a second pumping station was switched off.  UNICEF said it would expand emergency water trucking in response. The group said, “it is critical for children’s survival that all parties to the conflict stop attacks on water infrastructure, provide access to assess and repair” the damaged pumping station.

Relentless airstrikes against the rebel-held section of the divided Syrian city of Aleppo continued Saturday, with many buildings destroyed down to the basements, where many people hide during bombardments. Residents said that the ordnance appears to be more powerful than the bombs and missiles used in the past, causing “earthquake-like tremors.”  

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 25 people have been killed Saturday.  The previous day, at least 30 people, including several children were reported to have been killed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes.

Witnesses say the surge in airstrikes began late Wednesday after the Syrian government announced a renewed offensive to recapture the entire city.  That follows the failure by the U.S. and Russia to salvage a cease-fire that had diffused hostilities for nearly a week.

The intense airstrikes are targeting residential areas and buildings used by the volunteer group known as the “White Helmets.”

Aleppo, the country’s second biggest city, has been divided among government troops, rebel militias, Islamic extremists and Kurdish fighters since 2012.  

One member of the Syria Civil Defense group told the Associated Press that the renewed bombardment is the most intense of the war. Parts of the city have been under a near-continuous siege since July. [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: Economy and Finance