Syria Live: Deadly Airstrike in Aleppo

Image from a video of the aftermath of Saturday's regime airstrike on the Sheikh Maqsoud area of Aleppo

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2025 GMT: Aleppo. Journalist Jenan Moussa posts a series of telling observations about the Islamist insurgency Jabhat al-Nusra:

Services much better in #Aleppo city now. People thank Jabhat Al Nusra for that. The group is cleaning streets/ collecting garbage. @akhbar

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) April 7, 2013

Jabhat Al Nusra solved the bread crisis in #Aleppo as well. No lines anymore infront of bakeries. @akhbar

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) April 7, 2013

Jabhat Al Nusra solved transport problem in #Aleppo. They started bus service for 10 Liras per person. Ppl over 50 ride bus for free @akhbar

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) April 7, 2013

1955 GMT: Aleppo. Journalist Jenan Moussa reports a regime advance in Syria's largest city, challenging the Free Syrian Army:

Bad for #FSA. Regime forces took back Azizeh area. If regime takes control of Marjeh roundabout, they can theoretically cut #Aleppo into 2.

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) April 7, 2013

Regime forces moved 2day a military convoy from #Aleppo airport to the center. Azizeh is a strategic point under their control now. @akhbar

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) April 7, 2013

1725 GMT: Economy. The pro-regime daily Al-Watan has admitted a sharp drop in foreign trade.

The newspaper said exports dropped to $185 million in 2012, a decline of 97.4% on the $7.21 billion registered in 2011. In 2010 exports were valued at $11.35 billion.

The study attributed the collapse to "the large-scale destruction of the country's infrastructure and industrial supplies, causing many enterprises to stop functioning". Al Watan also cited "the important role" of sanctions.

Imports also suffered an unprecedented sharp decline of 78.4% in 2012, dropping to a value of just $3.58 billion from $16.57 billion a year earlier.

1315 GMT: Arms and Insurgents. Sources have told The National that insurgents have been told access to weapons from Gulf States will be conditional on their pledging allegiance to the Free Syrian Army and the civilian leadership of the Syrian National Coalition.

The message was reportedly given to General Selim Idriss, the head of a Joint Military Command including the FSA, when he visited Gulf States last week. He was told that arms would only be dleivers if a clearer chain of command and better organisation were established among the insurgency.

1153 GMT: Aleppo. Claimed video of the aftermath of a regime airstrike on an apartment block in the Ansari neighbourhood:

p>1133 GMT: Insurgent Attack. Claimed footage of insurgents, linked to the Free Syrian Army, attacking an alleged #Hezbollah base in Joussi in Homs Province, near the Lebanon border:

0448 GMT: Casualties. The Local Coordination Committees claim 116 people were killed on Saturday, including 10 women and 13 children.  Of the deaths, 37 were in Aleppo Province, 34 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 20 in Hama Province.

The Violations Documentation Center appear to have a higher total for the daily deaths, probably because of casualties among fighters. It reports 55,586 people killed since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011, an increase of 162 on Saturday. Of the dead, 44,297 are civilians, a rise of 102 from yesterday.

0445 GMT: Aleppo. Activists claims that a regime airstrike on the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood of Syria's largest city has killed at least 15 people, including nine children.

Insurgents had taken parts of the area, with a largely Kurdish population, last weekend after days of fighting with Syrian forces.

An amateur video (Warning: Graphic) of the aftermath of the raid showed people loading the bodies of three bloodied children and two men in the back of a pickup truck as women screamed and explosions were heard in the distance.

Another boy was seen lying dead in the street near a burning truck.