Russian raids kill 25 civilians in Syria

BEIRUT: A suspected Russian air strike on Idlib city and province in northwest Syria on Tuesday killed at least 25 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

The raid hits several areas mostly controlled by rebel groups, the Britain-based Observatory said. Russia is the Syrian regime´s main ally in its war against rebels.

Syria´s army seized key ground Tuesday in its battle for east Aleppo, capturing more districts and penning rebels in to less than 30 percent of territory they held in mid-November.

The advance came as Moscow and Washington traded barbs over stalled efforts to end fighting in the city, where forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have made significant advances since last week.

On the humanitarian front, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a "disgrace" that the international community had been unable to alleviate the suffering in besieged and war-battered east Aleppo.