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Syrian military begins ceasefire to let rebels leave eastern parts of Aleppo Russia tells UN it will pause bombing of eastern Aleppo
(about 7 hours later)
The Syrian military said on Thursday a unilateral ceasefire had come into force to allow rebels to leave the besieged eastern part of Aleppo city. Russia has told the UN it will stop bombing eastern Aleppo for 11 hours a day over four days, but the proposal was described as insufficient to bring about a wider deal to make militants leave the besieged city.
The rebels said the ceasefire was part of a psychological campaign to make them surrender. As a unilateral ceasefire was declared by the Syrian military in Aleppo on Thursday, the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said he welcomed the daily pauses to allow medical evacuations.
State media earlier said the army had opened exit corridors in two designated areas in the Bustan al-Qasr quarter and near the Castello Road in northern Aleppo, where waiting green buses were shown on state television. However, he said the ceasefire package required militants from the banned Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group to agree to leave and the Syrian government to guarantee that the local administration would remain in charge.
Intensified Russian and Syrian bombing of besieged rebel-held parts of Aleppo have knocked down scores of hospitals, bakeries and water pumping stations in an offensive that has killed hundreds of civilians in the past few weeks. The UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said he hoped the first of “several hundred” sick and wounded people would be brought out on Friday to government-held western Aleppo or rebel-held Idlib, according to their choice.
On Wednesday night, the leaders of France and Germany lashed out at Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, over Moscow’s bombardment of Aleppo and refused to rule out imposing sanctions on Russia. Egeland said the UN wanted to extend the pauses until Monday and there was still no deal to bring food into the besieged zone, but the UN was working round the clock to get the necessary permits from the Syrian government.
“What is happening in Aleppo is a war crime. One of the first demands is that the bombardments by the regime and its [Russian] backers must end,” the French president, François Hollande, said after a meeting of the three leaders in Berlin. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, condemned the air raids on Syria’s second city as “inhumane and cruel”. Rebels in eastern Aleppo said the temporary ceasefire was part of a psychological campaign to make them surrender.
Both leaders warned that they could not exclude imposing sanctions on Russia, hours ahead of an EU summit where Russia’s role in Syria is set to be discussed. State media earlier said the Syrian army had opened exit corridors in two designated areas in the Bustan al-Qasr quarter and near the Castello Road in northern Aleppo, where waiting green buses were shown on state television.
“Everything that can constitute a threat can be useful,” Hollande said at a press conference. Merkel added: “We cannot remove this option.” Intensified Russian and Syrian bombing of rebel-held areas of Aleppo has destroyed scores of hospitals, bakeries and water pumping stations in an offensive that has killed hundreds of civilians over the past few weeks.
Hollande said Putin appeared to be ready to extend Thursday’s temporary truce, set to last for 11 hours. “We came out of the meeting with the impression that there could be an extension of the truce, but it’s up to the Syrian regime and Russia to show it,” he said. On Wednesday night, the leaders of France and Germany hit out at Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, over Moscow’s bombardment of Aleppo, and refused to rule out imposing sanctions on Russia.
A truce of just a few hours would not be enough to deliver the necessary humanitarian aid and allow civilians to leave the area, Hollande added. Speaking after a meeting with Putin and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin, the French president, François Hollande, said: What is happening in Aleppo is a war crime. One of the first demands is that the bombardments by the regime and its [Russian] backers must end.”
Earlier this week, the Syrian military said the temporary ceasefire would allow trapped civilians to escape and said it had pulled back to enable rebel fighters to leave the city via two designated corridors. “We guarantee a safe exit, save your families,” an army loudspeaker blared near an exit corridor shown live on the pro-Syrian government Lebanese news channel Mayadeen. Merkel condemned the air raids on Syria’s second city as “inhumane and cruel”.
But rebels say the goal of Moscow and Bashar al-Assad’s government is to empty rebel-held parts of civilians so they can take over the whole city. Both leaders warned that they could not exclude imposing sanctions on Russia, hours ahead of an EU summit in which Moscow’s role in Syria is set to be discussed.
The rebels say they are preparing a large-scale offensive to break the siege of Aleppo and say the Russian air force has failed, despite a relentless bombing campaign. They say the army and its Iranian-backed militias are finding it harder to make headway after initial progress on the outskirts of the city that allowed the army to tighten its grip. “Everything that can constitute a threat can be useful,” Hollande said at a press conference. Merkel said: “We cannot remove this option.”
Syrian rebels say they are preparing a large-scale offensive to break the siege of Aleppo and claim that the Russian air force has failed, despite a relentless bombing campaign. They say the army and its Iranian-backed militias are struggling to make headway after initial progress on the outskirts of the city, which allowed the army to tighten its grip on Aleppo.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.