sa国际传媒

: do ALL you can to keep Syria鈥檚 children safe.
This is what they鈥檙e living through, right now.
鈥� Save the Children UK (@savechildrenuk)

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By Agence France-Presse

Bunker-busting bombs are putting children in so much danger in Syria鈥檚 Aleppo that they won鈥檛 even be able to return to underground schools when classes resume this weekend, a charity said today.

The 鈥渇erocious assault鈥� on Aleppo could deprive almost 100,000 school-age children of an education, said Save the Children, which supports 13 schools in the northern battleground city, including eight underground.

The United States has accused Russia of using 鈥渋ncendiary bunker-busting bombs鈥� in a week-long aerial assault on the city鈥檚 rebel-held east in support of Syria鈥檚 President Bashar al-Assad.

The Kremlin said yesterday it would press on with its bombing campaign, blaming the surge in violence on Washington鈥檚 failure to control rebels in Aleppo and insisting Syrian forces were battling 鈥渢errorists鈥�.

Save the Children said the use of the 鈥渆arthquake bombs鈥� which burrow four to five metres (yards) into the ground before exploding meant even underground schools were unsafe.

鈥淪chools in eastern Aleppo were due to re-open for the new school year tomorrow 鈥� but as the city continues to suffer a ferocious assault they will remain closed, depriving almost 100,000 school-age children of an education, while they continue in fear for their lives,鈥� it said in a statement.

The bunker-busting bombs are used to penetrate hardened targets such as underground military headquarters, leaving victims entombed in rubble.

Rescuers search in the rubble for survivors of a bombing in Aleppo

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鈥淧arents are afraid to send their children to school because everything is targeted,鈥� said a school principal in eastern Aleppo only identified as Omar.

鈥淭he students are also suffering on all levels, you see them barely walking, dragging themselves, which makes them unable to focus on the learning and studying,鈥� Save the Children quoted him as saying.

鈥淩egarding the bunker buster bombs, of course only hearing the sound creates a state of terror and panic that is not like anything else.

鈥淭he immense power of destruction is the most important, it can destroy underground shelters and basements and the buildings get totally destroyed, not just partially.鈥�

Save the Children said more than 300 children have been killed or wounded in eastern Aleppo in the past five days.

鈥淲e are not going to school because the airplanes bomb any gathering,鈥� said 12-year-old Amjad.

鈥淲hen the plane comes we sit on the floor, afraid that things might fall above us. One of my friends died in the bombing 鈥� he was my best friend.

鈥淚 study in a cave鈥�: Going to school in Syria
鈥� Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia)

鈥淚 love to go to school to study and I wish I could become a civil engineer to rebuild the houses that were destroyed,鈥� he said, quoted by the charity.

Even before the latest escalation, school enrolments in Aleppo had fallen to as low as 6%, said Save the Children.

鈥淲e鈥檙e now more likely to see children being pulled from the rubble or treated on the floor of a hospital than sat at a school desk,鈥� said Nick Finney, Save the Children head for northwest Syria.

鈥淐hildren deserve the right to play, to learn, to be children.

鈥淭he use of bunker busting bombs means there is literally nowhere we can keep children safe, and we want to see the use of these weapons investigated as a potential war crime.鈥�

漏 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

World leaders promised in February to come up with the funding needed to get one million Syrian refugee children into school in neighbouring countries 鈥� and to help children within Syria get an education.

There has been progress but not enough. on the international community to deliver education and hope to Syrian children.