Devastating photos offer a glimpse inside Syria's fiercest battleground - one of the 3 oldest cities in human history

The epicenter of Syria's brutal civil war shifted decisively last week to the country's largest city, Aleppo, which remains divided between regime loyalists in the west and rebel forces in the east.

Since April 22, 250 people have been killed - 140 of them in airstrikes and 96 by rebel shelling, according to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 40 children have been among the dead.

Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

Children play near barricades in a street, which serve as protection from snipers loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo's rebel-controlled Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, Syria April 6, 2016

The violence has continued into the weekend: roughly 30 airstrikes pounded Aleppo on Saturday, marking the ninth-consecutive day of deadly bombardments.