Assad forces pound Aleppo from the air

Regime forces strafed rebel-held districts in Aleppo with helicopter gunships and pounded them with shelling on the third day of a pitched battle for Syria’s commercial capital.

The fighting has sent some 200,000 civilians fleeing the northern city, according to the UN, which warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe, while France said it would call an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

The head of the UN observer mission inside Syria said he was deeply concerned by the violence from both sides in Aleppo. He said he witnessed heavy shelling of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, during a field visit on Sunday.