Syrian government batters Aleppo, seizes territory nearby

Government forces and allied militias supporting Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime killed dozens of people in Aleppo and claimed territory nearby on Friday and Saturday.

More than 100 bombs were reportedly dropped in a wave of regime airstrikes over rebel-held Aleppo Friday, an attack some residents of the decimated city described as the worst of the war so far. "It is a horrific situation now in Aleppo," said Ammar al-Selmo, chief of Aleppo's White Helmets civil defense group. "There are dead people in the streets, and fires are burning without control. People don’t know what to do or where to go. There is no escape. It is like the end of the world."

On Saturday, the government troops captured Handarat camp just north of Aleppo, a refugee facility for Palestinians long controlled by rebel fighters.

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Both developments are part of the new offensive the Assad regime announced Thursday and signal the definite demise of the U.S.-Russia cease-fire deal brokered earlier this month after lengthy negotiations.