ALEPPO: Opposition fighters in Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians Wednesday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a regime army offensive.
In the face of a blistering assault, the opposition fighters were reported to have retreated Wednesday from all of Aleppo’s Old City, the latest in a string of territorial losses.
After three weeks of heavy fighting, regime forces appeared closer than ever to retaking all of Aleppo and winning their most important victory yet in the civil war that began in 2011.
Opposition fighters have rejected calls to withdraw from the city, which had been divided between government and opposition forces since 2012, but on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for an “immediate five-day humanitarian cease-fire.”
The statement, which opposition representatives told AFP had been approved by all armed opposition factions in the city, called for “the evacuation of civilians who wish to leave” the city’s east to opposition territory in northern Aleppo province.
The cease-fire offer came after opposition forces retreated from their last positions in Aleppo’s Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its medieval buildings and souk. After seizing areas east of the Old City on Tuesday — including the large and strategic Shaar neighborhood — the army and allied forces were in control of 75 percent of the territory previously held by the opposition in east Aleppo, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will hold fresh talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Germany on efforts to halt fighting.
Kerry, who is on a farewell tour in Europe, and Lavrov will be in the northern city of Hamburg for a gathering of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that opens Thursday.
Kerry will continue on to Paris to take part in a separate meeting organized by his French, German and Qatari counterparts Saturday on Syria, the State Department said.
The leaders of six major Western nations called on Wednesday for an immediate cease-fire and condemned Russia and Iran for supporting the Syrian regime.
“The most urgent goal remains an immediate cease-fire so that the UN can bring humanitarian aid to people in East Aleppo,” said the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, the US, Canada and Britain in a statement released in Berlin.
They said the Syrian regime must agree to a four-point plan put forward by the UN. “We urge the Syrian regime to do this immediately to end the terrible situation in Aleppo; we demand Russia and Iran to exercise their influence to make this happen.”
Adding that there must be no impunity for individuals who commit war crimes, they urged the UN to collect evidence to bring individuals to justice. “We are ready to consider additional restrictive measures against individuals or institutions that act for the Syrian regime or in its name.”
French President Francois Hollande denounced Russia’s actions at the Security Council. “Russia’s systematic obstruction bolsters the regime in its destructive drive which is harming the defenseless civilian population,” a statement from Hollande’s office said.
Ankara meanwhile is working to facilitate negotiations between Moscow and Syrian opposition groups, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Russia’s Interfax news agency.
A Russian military adviser in Aleppo died of wounds sustained in a mortar attack carried out by Syrian opposition fighters, the Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday, the third Russian fatality in Syria this week.
Turkish warplanes pounded 12 Daesh targets in Al-Bab region of northern Syria on Wednesday, killing 23 terrorists, the military said.
Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack near the town of Al-Bab, the private NTV broadcaster said.
In another development, several Israeli missiles struck near the Mazzeh airbase outside Damascus without causing any casualties, regime media reported.
In the face of a blistering assault, the opposition fighters were reported to have retreated Wednesday from all of Aleppo’s Old City, the latest in a string of territorial losses.
After three weeks of heavy fighting, regime forces appeared closer than ever to retaking all of Aleppo and winning their most important victory yet in the civil war that began in 2011.
Opposition fighters have rejected calls to withdraw from the city, which had been divided between government and opposition forces since 2012, but on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for an “immediate five-day humanitarian cease-fire.”
The statement, which opposition representatives told AFP had been approved by all armed opposition factions in the city, called for “the evacuation of civilians who wish to leave” the city’s east to opposition territory in northern Aleppo province.
The cease-fire offer came after opposition forces retreated from their last positions in Aleppo’s Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its medieval buildings and souk. After seizing areas east of the Old City on Tuesday — including the large and strategic Shaar neighborhood — the army and allied forces were in control of 75 percent of the territory previously held by the opposition in east Aleppo, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will hold fresh talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Germany on efforts to halt fighting.
Kerry, who is on a farewell tour in Europe, and Lavrov will be in the northern city of Hamburg for a gathering of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that opens Thursday.
Kerry will continue on to Paris to take part in a separate meeting organized by his French, German and Qatari counterparts Saturday on Syria, the State Department said.
The leaders of six major Western nations called on Wednesday for an immediate cease-fire and condemned Russia and Iran for supporting the Syrian regime.
“The most urgent goal remains an immediate cease-fire so that the UN can bring humanitarian aid to people in East Aleppo,” said the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, the US, Canada and Britain in a statement released in Berlin.
They said the Syrian regime must agree to a four-point plan put forward by the UN. “We urge the Syrian regime to do this immediately to end the terrible situation in Aleppo; we demand Russia and Iran to exercise their influence to make this happen.”
Adding that there must be no impunity for individuals who commit war crimes, they urged the UN to collect evidence to bring individuals to justice. “We are ready to consider additional restrictive measures against individuals or institutions that act for the Syrian regime or in its name.”
French President Francois Hollande denounced Russia’s actions at the Security Council. “Russia’s systematic obstruction bolsters the regime in its destructive drive which is harming the defenseless civilian population,” a statement from Hollande’s office said.
Ankara meanwhile is working to facilitate negotiations between Moscow and Syrian opposition groups, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Russia’s Interfax news agency.
A Russian military adviser in Aleppo died of wounds sustained in a mortar attack carried out by Syrian opposition fighters, the Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday, the third Russian fatality in Syria this week.
Turkish warplanes pounded 12 Daesh targets in Al-Bab region of northern Syria on Wednesday, killing 23 terrorists, the military said.
Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack near the town of Al-Bab, the private NTV broadcaster said.
In another development, several Israeli missiles struck near the Mazzeh airbase outside Damascus without causing any casualties, regime media reported.
