Conditions worsen in besieged Syrian city

Humanitarian conditions have grown even more dire in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo with activists reporting dwindling stocks of food and cooking gas and only intermittent electricity supplies as droves of local residents flee almost two weeks of intense clashes between rebels and regime forces.

Government helicopters pounded rebel neighbourhoods across Syria’s largest city and main commercial hub. Activists said the random shelling has forced many civilians to flee to other neighbourhoods or escape the city altogether. The UN said late on Sunday that about 200,000 had fled the city of about 3m people.

“The humanitarian situation here is very bad,” Mohammed Saeed, an activist living in the city, said by Skype. “There is not enough food and people are trying to leave. We really need support from the outside. There is random shelling against civilians,” he added. “The city has pretty much run out of cooking gas, so people are cooking on open flames or with electricity, which cuts out a lot.”