The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria warned Tuesday that intensified attacks to control rebel-held areas and their main supply lines in eastern Aleppo is in tune with the use of siege warfare.

"These attacks appear to form the prelude to a siege, designed to force the capture of the city through an already-documented strategy of 'surrender or starve'," the Commission said in a statement.

"Neighbourhoods of Aleppo city are now being pounded daily by aerial bombardments by Government and pro-Government forces, causing mass civilian casualties," it added.

According to the Commission, over 25 hospitals and clinics including maternity hospitals, paediatric units and emergency wards have been destroyed by aerial bombardments since the beginning of the year.

Other critical infrastructure including markets, bakeries and water pumping stations have been affected by ongoing fighting in what was once Syria's largest city and economic hub.

Some two million civilians trapped in the war-ravaged city lack access to running water.

"Those inside the armed group-held neighbourhoods describe lives of horror, under near-constant threat of death from airstrikes," the Commission noted.

"There is limited food, water, and supplies for babies and infants. Access to medical care in these areas is largely non-existent," it added.

The Commission also documented scores of civilians dying in government-held areas, as coalitions of armed groups including Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam, and the militant group Jabhat Fatah al-Sham conduct indiscriminate ground shelling to counter government military attacks.

"The situation in Aleppo city has been catastrophic for many years. As unthinkable as it is, the current attacks suggest the agony of its civilians is about to deepen," the Commission warned.

"The Commission urges the warring parties to conduct themselves in accordance with international law," it concluded. Endit

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