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Russia and Syria Pause Bombardment of Rebel-Held Parts of Aleppo Russia and Syria Pause Bombardment of Rebel-Held Parts of Aleppo
(35 minutes later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Russian and Syrian warplanes halted their bombardment of rebel-held districts in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday, in what Russia called a gesture of good will ahead of an eight-hour unilateral “humanitarian pause” it has promised for Thursday.BEIRUT, Lebanon — Russian and Syrian warplanes halted their bombardment of rebel-held districts in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday, in what Russia called a gesture of good will ahead of an eight-hour unilateral “humanitarian pause” it has promised for Thursday.
The halt in aerial attacks came as residents reeled from days of shattering Russian and Syrian airstrikes that had intensified over the past week, killing scores of people, including 14 members of one family. It was unclear how long the break would last.The halt in aerial attacks came as residents reeled from days of shattering Russian and Syrian airstrikes that had intensified over the past week, killing scores of people, including 14 members of one family. It was unclear how long the break would last.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said at a news conference on Tuesday that he hoped the respite would allow talks “to finally separate” the Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and “those like it” from armed opposition groups supported by the United States and its allies — a longstanding Russian demand.The Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said at a news conference on Tuesday that he hoped the respite would allow talks “to finally separate” the Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and “those like it” from armed opposition groups supported by the United States and its allies — a longstanding Russian demand.
But in Geneva, United Nations officials said that they had received no prior notification from Russia about the pause in the bombardment, that they had no knowledge of the corridors the Russian military said would be opened to let civilians and militants out of the city, and that humanitarian agencies would not be able to send aid in or bring wounded out.But in Geneva, United Nations officials said that they had received no prior notification from Russia about the pause in the bombardment, that they had no knowledge of the corridors the Russian military said would be opened to let civilians and militants out of the city, and that humanitarian agencies would not be able to send aid in or bring wounded out.
Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, who recently warned that the rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo might be destroyed by year’s end, will not be involved in the talks Mr. Lavrov described.
The prospects for a genuine halt in the bloodshed are clouded by the experience of last month, when weeks of negotiations between Russia and the United States yielded a cease-fire that had little buy-in from the combatants, lasted just a few days and ended with even worse violence.The prospects for a genuine halt in the bloodshed are clouded by the experience of last month, when weeks of negotiations between Russia and the United States yielded a cease-fire that had little buy-in from the combatants, lasted just a few days and ended with even worse violence.
Medical workers, residents and activists in the besieged rebel-held districts said they did not trust the Russian offer, as international humanitarian groups expressed skepticism that the proposed pause would be long or solid enough to allow meaningful aid to be delivered to trapped civilians.Medical workers, residents and activists in the besieged rebel-held districts said they did not trust the Russian offer, as international humanitarian groups expressed skepticism that the proposed pause would be long or solid enough to allow meaningful aid to be delivered to trapped civilians.
There was no word on whether rebel groups would support the pause or halt their mortar attacks on the government-held districts of the divided city, which have killed and wounded several children in recent days. There was no word on whether rebel groups would support the pause or halt their mortar attacks on the government-held districts of the divided city, which have killed and wounded several children in recent days. Residents of the rebel-held districts also reported that ground attacks and shelling by government forces were continuing in some areas, even as the airstrikes stopped.
Abdelkafi al-Hamdo, a schoolteacher and antigovernment activist in eastern Aleppo, summed up the mistrust among his neighbors this way: “Russia kills many Syrians brutally. They pretend to be human by asking for a cease-fire. They prepare their weapons to kill others after the cease-fire. This cease-fire is not for us as Aleppo people, but this is for you respected journalists, to say Russia is reviving a cease-fire.”Abdelkafi al-Hamdo, a schoolteacher and antigovernment activist in eastern Aleppo, summed up the mistrust among his neighbors this way: “Russia kills many Syrians brutally. They pretend to be human by asking for a cease-fire. They prepare their weapons to kill others after the cease-fire. This cease-fire is not for us as Aleppo people, but this is for you respected journalists, to say Russia is reviving a cease-fire.”
The Russian announcement came days after Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, offered to escort fighters of the Qaeda-linked Nusra Front — now renamed the Levant Conquest Front — out of eastern Aleppo to the rebel-held province of Idlib.
Russia had signaled interest in the proposal, which according to diplomats was discussed at talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, in recent days. Those discussions included the main international players on Syria: Iran, Jordan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.
The outcome of the talks has not been made public, but there are signs that the parties are trying to reach an agreement under which the Nusra fighters would leave Aleppo. The Russian defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, said on Tuesday that Russian experts were already in Geneva to discuss the issue. The Pan-Arab daily Al Hayat reported that an agreement had been reached for the Nusra fighters to leave, and that experts had headed back to Geneva to work out the details.
But Mr. de Mistura said his office would not take part in those discussions. The talks could be thorny, especially around the perennially divisive issue of how many Nusra fighters there are and who counts as one. Mr. de Mistura said the Nusra fighters made up 900 of around 8,000 rebel combatants in eastern Aleppo. Rebels say the number is less, while the Syrian government argues it is more.
The Syrian government and its allies have often referred to all rebel fighters as belonging to the Nusra Front, while opposition fighters have said that they will not renounce tactical alliances with the Qaeda-linked group without new arms or guarantees.
But according to Vitaly I. Churkin, Moscow’s envoy to the United Nations, Russia, the United States and regional powers were to discuss how such a separation of Nusra fighters from other rebels could work. Russia has not publicly disputed Mr. de Mistura’s numbers.
United Nations officials said that they welcomed any reduction in violence, but that their agencies could not deliver aid without guarantees of safety from all the combatants.United Nations officials said that they welcomed any reduction in violence, but that their agencies could not deliver aid without guarantees of safety from all the combatants.
“We need to have assurances from all parties to the conflict,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in Geneva, “not just a unilateral announcement that this will happen.”“We need to have assurances from all parties to the conflict,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in Geneva, “not just a unilateral announcement that this will happen.”
Physicians for Human Rights, a charity based in New York that has tracked hundreds of attacks on medical facilities during Syria’s five-year conflict, a vast majority of them by pro-government forces, said that such a brief pause would do little. The group said it was more important to stop indiscriminate attacks and to lift the blockades on eastern Aleppo and other besieged areas that prevent the free movement of food, medicine and people.Physicians for Human Rights, a charity based in New York that has tracked hundreds of attacks on medical facilities during Syria’s five-year conflict, a vast majority of them by pro-government forces, said that such a brief pause would do little. The group said it was more important to stop indiscriminate attacks and to lift the blockades on eastern Aleppo and other besieged areas that prevent the free movement of food, medicine and people.
“An eight-hour suspension of bombing is entirely insufficient to alleviate the suffering of east Aleppo city’s quarter million people,” the group said. “What the people of Aleppo need is an end to indiscriminate airstrikes on civilian areas, an end to the deliberate targeting of medical facilities — including pediatric clinics and maternity wards — and an end to the crippling siege of their city.”“An eight-hour suspension of bombing is entirely insufficient to alleviate the suffering of east Aleppo city’s quarter million people,” the group said. “What the people of Aleppo need is an end to indiscriminate airstrikes on civilian areas, an end to the deliberate targeting of medical facilities — including pediatric clinics and maternity wards — and an end to the crippling siege of their city.”
Mr. de Mistura, the special envoy, recently warned that Aleppo could become another site of mass killings like those that occurred in Rwanda in 1994 and in Bosnia in 1995. Mr. de Mistura recently warned that Aleppo could become another site of mass killings like those that occurred in Rwanda in 1994 and in Bosnia in 1995.
On Tuesday, Britain mobilized support among diplomats in Geneva for a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to focus on Aleppo, most likely for Friday. The session would task a United Nations commission of inquiry with investigating war crimes committed in Aleppo. On Tuesday, Britain mobilized support among diplomats in Geneva for a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to focus on Aleppo, most likely for Friday. The session may consider tasking a United Nations commission of inquiry on Syria with investigating war crimes committed in Aleppo.