Amnesty Slams Syria Over Barrel Bombs

Amnesty International says Syrian government forces are committing "crimes against humanity" through their indiscriminate bombing of Aleppo.

A report from the human rights group is particularly critical of the use of "barrel bombs" which are weapons made from barrels and other vessels and packed with explosives.

Amnesty says the weapons are particularly destructive and used to kill indiscriminately to create "sheer terror and unbearable suffering". President Bashar al Assad has always denied his forces use such bombs.

The city has been divided since mid-2012 between government forces controlling the west and rebel forces controlling the east.

Amnesty is also critical of opposition forces whose abuses, it claims, include "war crimes", with both sides carrying out abuses on a daily basis.

The "relentless" aerial bombing of Aleppo has left more than 3,000 people dead over the past year and forced many residents of the once economically important city to "eke out an existence underground", said Amnesty.

"By relentlessly and deliberately targeting civilians the Syrian government appears to have adopted a callous policy of collective punishment against the civilian population of Aleppo," said Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme director Philip Luther.

The Amnesty report also criticised rebels fighting in the city for using "imprecise weapons such as mortars and improvised rockets fitted with gas canisters called 'hell cannons'".

On Monday, the Doctors Without Borders group said one of Aleppo's main hospitals in Aleppo had had to stop treating patients following recent attacks.

The hospital in rebel-held Sakhur served some 400,000 people, the group said, calling for all sides "to respect civilians, health facilities and medical staff".

The report also talked of "widespread torture, arbitrary detention and abduction by both government forces and armed opposition groups" and it criticised the international community for its "cold-hearted display of indifference".

"Continued inaction is being interpreted by perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity as a sign they can continue to hold the civilians of Aleppo hostage without fear of any retribution," said Mr Luther.

The Syrian conflict should be referred to the International Criminal Court so perpetrators "can be brought to justice", he said.

More than 220,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.