More than 270,000 civilians are trapped in the eastern part of the city according to the World Health Organization, cut off from aid and with "dwindling supplies of food, water and fuel."
Describing the impact of the bunker-buster bombs, Yassin Mohammed, a 51-year-old taxi driver from East Aleppo told Middle East Eye they felt like "an earthquake."
With a ceasefire in tatters, American-backed Kurdish and Arab rebels are moving south while Russian and Syrian government forces are advancing quickly north
Overnight Syrian warplanes bombarded several districts in the rebel-held eastern part of the city, with multiple reports of phosphorous bombs being used by the troops of president Bashar al-Assad.
With fingers pointing in all directions, the fragile ceasefire between the Assad regime and Syria's militants has broken down, setting the stage for a resumption in hostilities.
Assad expressed dismay that, "after five years, some people still haven't woken up from their fantasies," and vowed to retake "every area from the terrorists and to rebuild."
America's NATO ally Turkey is fighting US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria in the wake of mixed messages sent by the US amid the fight against the Islamic State.
The attack is indicative of the complicated situation in Syria, where NATO member Turkey is allied with the US against Islamic State, while the US also supports the Kurds, who support a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.
The Turkish forces are part of a coalition that includes Syrian rebels and American aircraft aimed at pushing ISIS from the Syrian border town of Jarablus.
Since the Islamic State swept into Sinjar in August, 2014, the women have been treated as property of the group's fighters, who marry, trade, or sell them.
