Fighting Rages in Aleppo Amid Calm in Other Parts of Syria

The Syrian government launched new airstrikes Saturday on insurgent-held neighborhoods in Aleppo while rebels shelled government-held parts of the northern city, as a truce in other parts of the country appeared to be holding on its first day.

A Syrian woman weeps as she holds an Arabic placard that reads "Aleppo has become the Aleppo of martyrs," during a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, on April 30, 2016, against Syrian President Bashar Assad's military operations against areas held by insurgents around the country, mostly in the northern city of Aleppo that has been the main point of violence. AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

BEIRUT—The Syrian government launched new airstrikes Saturday on insurgent-held neighborhoods in Aleppo while rebels shelled government-held parts of the northern city, as a truce in other parts of the country appeared to be holding on its first day.

Contested Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and former commercial center, has been the scene of intense shelling and air raids, killing nearly 250 civilians over the past nine days, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The surge in fighting has caused the collapse of a two-month cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia. It also has raised fears of an all-out government assault on Aleppo.

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