Syrian government forces have caused death and devastating injuries to civilians by dropping barrel bombs on schools, hospitals, mosques and crowded markets in opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo, rights group Amnesty International has alleged in a new report.
Attacks using barrel bombs -- oil drums filled with explosives and shrapnel and dropped by aircraft -- killed more than 3,000 civilians in Aleppo governorate last year, the report said, and have helped create a climate of fear.
Many terrified Aleppo residents have resorted to eking out a subterranean existence to try to stay alive, Amnesty International said, with many hospitals also moving underground in opposition-controlled areas of the northern city.
Its report also accuses armed opposition groups of carrying out appalling human rights violations against civilians.