UNICEF warns of children trapped in Aleppo

Up to 100 children could be trapped in a building under fire in eastern Aleppo says UNICEF, which has urged their immediate evacuation.

aleppo

People carrying their belonging and leaving the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, Syria, 07 December 2016. Source: AAP

The UN's children's agency is warning that dozens of unaccompanied children are trapped in a building under fire in eastern Aleppo and is calling for their immediate evacuation from the rebel enclave.

UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday that there could be more than 100 children trapped in the building in eastern Aleppo, according to reports from an unnamed doctor in the city.

UNICEF regional director, Geert Cappelaere, says it's "time for the world to stand up for the children of Aleppo and bring their living nightmare to an end."

Pro-government forces have launched a ferocious assault on Aleppo's few remaining opposition-held neighbourhoods, trapping thousands of civilians under unrelenting heavy fire. There are unconfirmed reports that government forces are killing civilians.

Cappelaere says that UNICEF is "deeply concerned" over the unverified reports of the "extrajudicial killings of civilians, including children."


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Published 14 December 2016 6:10am
Updated 14 December 2016 6:25am
Source: AAP


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