An army ground offensive on four different fronts has begun on rebel-held areas of the besieged city of Aleppo, Syrian state media is reporting.
The ground movement comes after five days of intense air strikes on east Aleppo, including the reported use of bunker-buster ground penetrating bombs and incendiary devices which have destroyed civilian infrastructure including a water station and emergency response centres. Activists on the ground say more than 400 people have died.
Nato said on Tuesday that the Russian backed attacks on Aleppo are in "blatant violation of international law." There are now fears that the approximately 250,000 people inside besieged rebel areas could be facing
an "atrocity that would resonate in history," one diplomat warned.
The Syrian army and allied militias attacked at the same time on Tuesday around the Palestinian Handarat camp north of Aleppo, at the nearby Kindi Hospital area, in the Rashidin district in the centre of the city and at the 1070 Apartments district in the southwest.
Troops are also said to be advancing in the contested Old Quarter, where they have captured several buildings, towards the rebel neighbourhood of Farafra.
A military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the AP on Tuesday that the offensive will continue daily on all fronts until "terrorists" in east Aleppo are "wiped out."
A rebel official told Reuters that Tuesday's attacks had been faught off, but they expect two more assaults on a rebel-held district in the south of the city.
The Syrian government announced last week following the collapse of a US-Russian brokered ceasefire that it intends to retake Aleppo - the last major rebel stronghold - for good.
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