Dramatic footage has captured the moment a little girl was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building after an airstrike in Aleppo which killed her entire family.

Five-year-old Rawan Alowsh, who is unable to move, lets out a wail of anguish as a rescuer desperately digs through concrete and soil before pulling her out of a hole by her ponytail in the Bab al Nairab district on Friday.

Eventually, the team of rescuers are able to clear enough of the rubble from on top of her lower body to pull the injured girl free, before she is rushed away for medical treatment covered in dust and blood.

Image: Rawan recovering in hospital after her rescue

The little girl had three sisters and one brother, who were all killed in the airstrike. Her father, Mohammad Alowsh, 28, and mother, 30-year-old Kefaeh, also did not survive the attack.

It comes after rebel-held areas of the city came under heavy bombardment for a second day following an announcement of a major offensive by the Syrian government on Thursday.


:: Syria's Assad defiant over Aleppo claims

Aleppo under more heavy bombardment

A squadron of five aircraft was in the skies above the city on Friday morning, with bombing waves targeting the east of the city, according to Ammar al Selmo, the head of the civil defence rescue service.

He said the aircraft were Russian and added: "What's happening now is annihilation."

The bombardment is said to have destroyed more than 40 buildings since the operation began on Friday morning, according to Mr al Selmo.

A Syrian military source said the operation was "a comprehensive one" which included a ground offensive, adding that air and artillery attacks could go on "for some time".

Sky sources said at least five different parts of Aleppo were hit on Thursday evening, days after a week-long ceasefire collapsed.

What is Russia telling citizens about Syria?

:: America shows its weak hand in battle for Syria

Video footage showed burning buildings and a journalist for the AFP news agency described seeing a street on fire after cluster bombs fell.

And a video clip of On the Ground News journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem speaking to White Helmets volunteer Najeep Fakhoury has been posted online, showing the two men dropping to the ground as an airstrike takes place behind their building.

#OGN staff nearly killed while filming with #WhiteHelmets. Must see how life is in besieged #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/cTFSHFbZxm — On the Ground News (@OgnNews) September 23, 2016

Incendiary bombs were also among the armaments dropped on the city.

Aleppo is home to 250,000 people and has been under constant government siege since September. Rebels have held the city since 2012.

:: Why the latest Syrian ceasefire was doomed from the start

President Bashar al Assad has denied bombing civilians in the city, and has blamed the West for much of the destruction.

Image: Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry at the International Syria Support Group meeting

It comes after the US and Russia failed to agree on how to revive the ceasefire following a "long, painful, difficult and disappointing" meeting on Thursday night.

The International Syria Support Group, which includes the US and Russia, met on the sidelines of the UN gathering in New York.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the assembly the situation in Syria could not be rectified without the suppression of Islamic State and other terrorist groups.

He said it was time to learn lessons from previous crises and prevent the situation in Syria from becoming a catastrophe.

Syrian President accuses US of 'spreading lies'

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov had said there would be no new decisions made on Syria on Friday, blaming the position of the United States as the main obstacle to an agreement.

However, US Secretary of State John Kerry said they had made "a little bit of progress".

Both countries agreed a deal on 9 September, which included a nationwide ceasefire, improved humanitarian aid access and the possibility of joint military operations against al Qaeda-linked groups.

But it fell apart after the bombing of an aid convoy on Monday, which killed 20 people.

'I am afraid I will suffocate'

UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said: "The good news is that Russia and the US agreed to work intensely on a possible restoration of it.

"It was a long, painful, difficult and disappointing meeting.

"The next few hours, days maximum are crucial for making it or breaking it."