“War crimes are being committed here in Aleppo,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters, adding: “They must not be unpunished and impunity is simply not an option in Syria.”

   

The Security Council was holding urgent talks after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was appalled by the “chilling” air bombardments on Aleppo and warned that the use of advanced weaponry could amount to war crimes.

   

“Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse in Syria, they have,” British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said. “The incendiary munitions that are dropping on Aleppo are indiscriminate and a clear breach of international law — the barrel-busting bombs that are falling from the skies likewise,” he said.

   

The meeting was called by Britain, France and the United States to turn up the pressure on Russia to rein in its ally Syria and halt the intense bombing campaign on Aleppo.

   

Residents and a monitor reported heavy air raids overnight and early Sunday on the besieged east of the city, which Syria's army has pledged to retake. At least 115 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syrian and Russian bombardment of eastern Aleppo since the army on Thursday announced an operation to take it, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

 

Below is a picture of Delattre speaking in the UN in April. 

 

 

Here is a picture of wounded Syrians being treated in a makeshift hospital in a rebel area 

(Karam Al-Masri/AFP).