Air raids pound rebel-held Aleppo as Syria army begins assault Syrian and Russian aircraft pounded rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Friday, a monitor said, after the army announced a new offensive aimed at retaking all of the divided second city. An AFP correspondent said the scale of the destruction was the heaviest he had seen in years of fighting in the city, and that two civil defence centres were among the buildings hit in the bombardment. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES