MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Thursday, residents of eastern Aleppo held protests in the city, which the militants suppressed by opening fire at the civilians.
"The militants dispersed the demonstration, shooting at the protesting from a heavy machine gun and then mined all the approaches to the checkpoint and placed snipers on the roofs of nearby houses," Konashenkov said describing one of the incidents, involving about 300 civilians.
"Seventeen people died at the site, including two teenagers of 13 and 15 years of age, over 40 people were wounded," Konashenkov said.
He added that the militants detained about 10 men whom they deemed responsible for organizing the demonstrations and then killed all of them.
"The terrorists detained and drove away in an unknown direction with about 10 men, who they thought were the ‘organizers’ of the turmoil. That same evening all of them were shot," Konashenkov said.
The internal conflict in Syria has lasted for about five years. A September ceasefire failed to hold, which resulted in intensified fighting between Syrian government forces and militants in Aleppo.
