Five months of air raids on Syria's Aleppo kill almost 2,000

Nearly 2,000 civilians, including 567 children, have been killed in a massive air offensive this year by Syrian regime forces on the northern province of Aleppo, a monitor said Friday.
      
The staggering death toll from barrel bombings and other air raids on rebel-held areas comes just four days before the June 3 presidential election that is expected to return Bashar al-Assad to power.
      
"From the beginning of January to May 29, 1,963 civilians were killed by barrel bombs and other air raids. Among them were 567 children and 283 women," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
      
Control of Aleppo city, Syria's former commercial hub, has been divided since a rebel offensive in July 2012, and government aircraft have also targeted nearby towns and villages held by the opposition.
      
The air offensive began in mid-December, and intensified in January, with regime helicopters raining barrels bombs on rebel areas, causing many thousands of people to flee their homes.
      
The munitions are cylindrical metal containers packed with explosives and scrap metal, which are unguided and cannot be directed at military targets.
      
Their use has been condemned by the international community.
      
The United Nations saying they have a "devastating effect", the United States has denounced them as "barbaric" and rights group have said their use could amount to a war crime.
      
Activists have criticised the international community for failing to stop the "massacres" in Aleppo.
                      
In April, Human Rights Watch said: "President Assad is talking about elections, but for...