Syria monitor: 74 killed in 8 days of rebel Aleppo offensive

Beirut: The opposition monitoring Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 74 civilians, including 25 children, have been killed in the 8-day-old rebel offensive on the government-held part of Aleppo city.

Opposition fighters launched a protracted attack on the western edge of government-held Aleppo, aiming to break a months-long government-imposed siege on the eastern part of the city they control.

The opposition groups have come under increasing criticism for indiscriminate shelling of western Aleppo resulting in civilian deaths. The Observatory said on Saturday in the same period it recorded three civilian deaths in rebel-held Aleppo districts.

Meanwhile, a temporary Russian moratorium on airstrikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo expired. None of the area's estimated 275,000 residents evacuated the territory, as was urged by Russian and Syrian officials.