'Children die in our arms'

Doctors in rebel-held districts of Aleppo have made an urgent plea to US President Barack Obama to take action to help civilians following repeated atrocities in the devastated Syrian city.

In a letter addressed to Obama, 15 of the 35 doctors in eastern neighbourhoods of Syria's second city warned the situation would be desperate for civilians if regime forces re-impose a siege.

One pediatrician who signed the letter and spoke to AFP in the eastern districts said he was forced to watch children "die in our arms" because of dwindling medical supplies and repeated bombardment.

On Saturday, rebels and allied jihadists broke a three-week government encirclement that had left residents of eastern Aleppo reeling from skyrocketing prices and food shortages.

But the pediatricians, surgeons and other physicians who signed the letter said the situation remained dire.

"Unless a permanent lifeline to Aleppo is opened it will be only a matter of time until we are again surrounded by regime troops, hunger takes hold and hospitals' supplies run completely dry."

The letter accuses Washington of inaction, saying it had seen "no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even use its influence to push the parties to protect civilians."

"We do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers, we need your action. Prove that you are the friend of Syrians."

The World Health Organisation said Syria was the most dangerous place for health care workers to operate last year.

An estimated 250,000 people still live in the rebel-held eastern parts, with around 1.2 million in the government-controlled west.

"What pains us most, as doctors, is choosing who will live and who will die," the doctors wrote.

"Young children are sometimes brought into our emergency rooms so badly injured that we have to prioritise those with better chances, or simply don't have the equipment to help them."