WESTERN-BACKED extremists targeted Syrian schoolchildren in Aleppo for the third day running yesterday as they lost more ground in the war-shattered city.

Up to four pupils were killed when militants in insurgent-occupied east Aleppo mortared the al-Ta’ai secondary school in the government-held western Suleimaniyeh district, which is home to many ethnic Armenians.

The victims included two girls, named as Lama and Maria, who were in the same class.