Shelling from Syrian rebel forces Tuesday killed at least 11 civilians and wounded dozens in a Kurdish district in Syria's Aleppo, Kurdish officials and local activists said.
Despite a fragile cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia that began early last month, rebels with the Army of Islam and their allies say they will continue fighting Kurdish YPG forces in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo.
The Army of Islam, an extremist rebel group, said in a video statement that the ongoing bombardment of the Kurdish neighborhood is a response to attacks by Kurdish forces and their allies on rebel-held areas of Aleppo.
"We will bomb all positions of the Kurdish militias in Sheikh Maqsoud," an unidentified commander of the rebel group said in a video posted as the bombing started.
Local news reports said that most of the casualties are civilians who were trying to flee.
"The bombing hasn't stopped since this morning," local journalist Berfin Roj told VOA. "They use all types of weapons like mortars and heavy artillery."
"They [rebels] only target civilians here," she told VOA via phone as the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.
The wounded can't be treated because of shortages of medical supplies as the area has been surrounded by rebel forces for weeks, she added.
A YouTube video posted Tuesday by the Army of Islam showed surface-to-surface missiles being fired on Kurdish forces.
YPG Kurdish officials wrote to the U.N. Syria cease-fire coordination team, which monitors possible violations.
The intensification of fighting between Kurdish forces and Islamist rebels has come as rebels are trying to take control of the strategically important Kurdish areas of Aleppo city, local activists said.
