Only 25 doctors remain in opposition-held areas of Aleppo

Five medical staff were killed in an air strike which hit the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed Al Quds Hospital in the opposition-held Sukari neighbourhood of northern Syrian province of Aleppo on Saturday.

Air strikes overnight on Al Quds hospital and a nearby residential building in the opposition-held Syrian city of Aleppo killed at least 27 patients and staff, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Two doctors, three nurses and a dentist died during the attack and left the city with a maximum of 2-3 months worth of medical supplies.

The hospital was helping around 5,000 patients a day with its 8 doctors and 28 nurses.

The last paediatrician in the city, Muhammed Wasim Maaz, was killed in the attack. Now, only 25 doctors are left to treat at least 250,000 people.

The city is now the main battle ground in the Syrian conflict, as it was excluded from the partial ceasefire which has come into effect in most parts of Syria.

Air strikes conducted by Syrian regime and its ally Russia have mainly targeted hospitals, clinics, water supplies and civilian households without discrimination.

People of Syria's second largest city have been calling for help, but no one has come to their aid. Most residents have fled to neighbouring Turkey, but those who remain, live in fear in their own homes.

More than 250 civilians were killed in the last week's attacks on Aleppo. As the death toll continues to rise, hope to end the five-year-old war is fading away.

Partial Ceasefire

The US is asking for Russia’s cooperation to renew the cessation of hostility deal in Syria, as the ceasefire excluded Aleppo due to Syrian regime's refusal of including the city in the deal.

Aleppo was initially left out of a deal which was reinforced on February 27 between the regime and opposition.

The freeze in fighting, announced on Friday, was applied to battlefronts in the coastal province of Latakia and Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus.

The head of Moscow's coordination centre in Syria said on Sunday that talks, which will include Aleppo, had begun.

Fresh air strikes pounded Aleppo early on Monday.

Over the past week, hundreds of civilians were killed in and around the city.

Several opposition-held neighbourhoods, including the heavily populated Bustan al Qasr district were hit.

It's unclear if Monday's raids on a opposition-controlled area was carried out by Syrian or Russian jets.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Geneva, Switzerland for talks with other dignitaries to try and revive the first major ceasefire of the war.

This ceasefire was initially put into place in February backed by US and Russia, but has since collapsed.

The UN special Envoy for Syria, Stephan de Mistura, has estimated that 400,000 people have been killed in Syria since 2011.