Anguish in Aleppo as a man screams "They killed my children and brothers and sisters."

The video which can not be independently verified by Reuters appears to show the aftermath of an airstrike in Aleppo.

Buildings are cracked open and residents save those they can.

No one is spared in the fight now entering its fourth year with few signs of resolution.

Simply surviving has become cause for celebration in a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.

On Monday the government announced a presidential election for June preparing the ground for President Bashar al-Assad to defy widespread opposition and extend his grip on power -- days after he said the civil war was turning in his favor.

Western and Gulf Arab countries that back Assad's opponents are calling the election a "parody of democracy." They say it would wreck efforts to negotiate a peace settlement.

With the country engulfed in the flames of war rights groups say t