BEIRUT/GENEVA: Intense airstrikes resumed in rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo after a weeks-long pause on Tuesday, killing at least three people, residents and a war monitor said.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura on the other hand urged US President-elect Donald Trump to help push for political reforms to stop the militant group gaining recruits and stressed “a completely new approach” to a political solution.
Syrian state television said the Damascus government’s air force took part in strikes against “terrorist strongholds” in Aleppo’s Old City while Russia said it had struck ISIS and former Nusra Front sites elsewhere in Syria, without mentioning Aleppo.
Three hospitals in rebel-held areas of northern Syria have been hit by air raids in the past 24 hours, leaving medical staff and patients wounded, a monitor said on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it could not immediately determine whether the strikes in Aleppo province had been carried out by Russian or Syrian government aircraft.
One hospital in the village of Awijel in the west of the province was hit during the night.
Among the wounded were patients who had been moved there after a hospital in the nearby village of Kafr Naha was hit on Monday, the Britain-based monitoring group said.
A third hospital — in the town of Atareb — was hit five times in the early hours of Monday, the group added. The strikes destroyed operating rooms and the hospital pharmacy, damaged ambulances and wounded medical staff.
The bombardment appeared to mark the end of a pause in strikes on targets inside the city declared by Syria’s government and Russia on Oct 18.
“Our houses are shaking from the pressure. Planes are soaring above us and the bombardment is around us,” said Modar Shekho, a resident of eastern Aleppo. Both rocket strikes by jets and barrel bombs dropped by helicopters were used, residents and a war monitor said.
The renewed violence in Aleppo will be closely followed in Washington where President-elect Donald Trump has signalled he intends to take a different approach to Syria from that of President Barack Obama, who has backed some rebel groups.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose approach in Syria has been praised by the US president-elect, spoke by phone on Monday and agreed to “combine efforts to tackle international terrorism and extremism”, the Kremlin said.
Aleppo has become the fiercest front in Syria’s five-and-a-half-year war, pitting President Bashar Assad, supported by Russia, Iran and Shi’ite militias against Sunni rebels including groups backed by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.
Damascus describes all the rebels fighting to oust Assad, which include both militant factions banned by Western countries and nationalist groups, as terrorists.
UN for political devolution
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday that US President-elect Donald Trump was right to seek to work with Russia to beat Daesh in Syria, but urged him to help push for political reforms to stop the militant group gaining recruits.
Speaking on the BBC’s Hardtalk programme, de Mistura said it was crucial to fight ISIS, also known as Daesh, but that a long-term victory required “a completely new approach” to a political solution.
“In other words, some type of political devolution in Syria. Otherwise many other people, unhappy in Syria, may join Daesh while they are fighting Daesh,” he said.
De Mistura presided over a fitful Syrian peace process in the first half of this year, but it finally stalled because cooperation collapsed between its two chief backers, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
While Russia has maintained strong support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom it regards as a bulwark against “terrorists,” the United States has said Assad must leave power under any political transition.
Although the UN Security Council has mandated a political transition process, Assad’s government has refused to consider any formula that might involve a dilution of his power.
Many of Trump’s opponents fear that his stated intention to work more closely with Russian President Vladimir Putin means the United States would withdraw support for Syrian opposition groups and agree to Assad staying in power.
De Mistura said he had not yet been contacted by anyone in Trump’s team, but that was to be expected because of the focus on US internal politics. But he looked forward to hearing from, and briefing, Trump’s foreign policy pick.
Mistura said he expected the United States, regardless of policy, to remain a fundamental player in trying to resolve the crisis in Syria.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura on the other hand urged US President-elect Donald Trump to help push for political reforms to stop the militant group gaining recruits and stressed “a completely new approach” to a political solution.
Syrian state television said the Damascus government’s air force took part in strikes against “terrorist strongholds” in Aleppo’s Old City while Russia said it had struck ISIS and former Nusra Front sites elsewhere in Syria, without mentioning Aleppo.
Three hospitals in rebel-held areas of northern Syria have been hit by air raids in the past 24 hours, leaving medical staff and patients wounded, a monitor said on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it could not immediately determine whether the strikes in Aleppo province had been carried out by Russian or Syrian government aircraft.
One hospital in the village of Awijel in the west of the province was hit during the night.
Among the wounded were patients who had been moved there after a hospital in the nearby village of Kafr Naha was hit on Monday, the Britain-based monitoring group said.
A third hospital — in the town of Atareb — was hit five times in the early hours of Monday, the group added. The strikes destroyed operating rooms and the hospital pharmacy, damaged ambulances and wounded medical staff.
The bombardment appeared to mark the end of a pause in strikes on targets inside the city declared by Syria’s government and Russia on Oct 18.
“Our houses are shaking from the pressure. Planes are soaring above us and the bombardment is around us,” said Modar Shekho, a resident of eastern Aleppo. Both rocket strikes by jets and barrel bombs dropped by helicopters were used, residents and a war monitor said.
The renewed violence in Aleppo will be closely followed in Washington where President-elect Donald Trump has signalled he intends to take a different approach to Syria from that of President Barack Obama, who has backed some rebel groups.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose approach in Syria has been praised by the US president-elect, spoke by phone on Monday and agreed to “combine efforts to tackle international terrorism and extremism”, the Kremlin said.
Aleppo has become the fiercest front in Syria’s five-and-a-half-year war, pitting President Bashar Assad, supported by Russia, Iran and Shi’ite militias against Sunni rebels including groups backed by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.
Damascus describes all the rebels fighting to oust Assad, which include both militant factions banned by Western countries and nationalist groups, as terrorists.
UN for political devolution
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday that US President-elect Donald Trump was right to seek to work with Russia to beat Daesh in Syria, but urged him to help push for political reforms to stop the militant group gaining recruits.
Speaking on the BBC’s Hardtalk programme, de Mistura said it was crucial to fight ISIS, also known as Daesh, but that a long-term victory required “a completely new approach” to a political solution.
“In other words, some type of political devolution in Syria. Otherwise many other people, unhappy in Syria, may join Daesh while they are fighting Daesh,” he said.
De Mistura presided over a fitful Syrian peace process in the first half of this year, but it finally stalled because cooperation collapsed between its two chief backers, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
While Russia has maintained strong support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom it regards as a bulwark against “terrorists,” the United States has said Assad must leave power under any political transition.
Although the UN Security Council has mandated a political transition process, Assad’s government has refused to consider any formula that might involve a dilution of his power.
Many of Trump’s opponents fear that his stated intention to work more closely with Russian President Vladimir Putin means the United States would withdraw support for Syrian opposition groups and agree to Assad staying in power.
De Mistura said he had not yet been contacted by anyone in Trump’s team, but that was to be expected because of the focus on US internal politics. But he looked forward to hearing from, and briefing, Trump’s foreign policy pick.
Mistura said he expected the United States, regardless of policy, to remain a fundamental player in trying to resolve the crisis in Syria.
