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Syria war: Aleppo ceasefire ends with clashes | Syria war: Aleppo ceasefire ends with clashes |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Heavy clashes have been reported in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo after a three-day ceasefire ended on Saturday. | Heavy clashes have been reported in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo after a three-day ceasefire ended on Saturday. |
The unilateral ceasefire was announced last week by Russia, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of the Syrian government. | |
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting and air strikes took place on Saturday night. | The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting and air strikes took place on Saturday night. |
There are also concerns humanitarian aid did not reach the city during the ceasefire. | There are also concerns humanitarian aid did not reach the city during the ceasefire. |
The Observatory said air strikes hit a key front line in the south-west of the city on Saturday, with clashes between rebel fighters and government troops intensifying in rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo. | The Observatory said air strikes hit a key front line in the south-west of the city on Saturday, with clashes between rebel fighters and government troops intensifying in rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo. |
Ismail al-Abdullah, a resident of Aleppo who works as a volunteer with the White Helmets civil defence group, told the BBC he had witnessed bombings on the frontline, as well as snipers, in the hours since the ceasefire ended. | Ismail al-Abdullah, a resident of Aleppo who works as a volunteer with the White Helmets civil defence group, told the BBC he had witnessed bombings on the frontline, as well as snipers, in the hours since the ceasefire ended. |
On Friday, the UN said a lack of security guarantees had forced it to delay plans to carry out medical evacuations from the city. | On Friday, the UN said a lack of security guarantees had forced it to delay plans to carry out medical evacuations from the city. |
And while Russia and the Syrian government had urged people to leave using humanitarian corridors, one group said people were not able to do so. | And while Russia and the Syrian government had urged people to leave using humanitarian corridors, one group said people were not able to do so. |
"Nobody has left through the corridors," Zakaria Malahifji, a rebel official with the Fastaqim group, told Reuters earlier on Saturday. | "Nobody has left through the corridors," Zakaria Malahifji, a rebel official with the Fastaqim group, told Reuters earlier on Saturday. |
"The small number of people which who tried to leave were faced with shelling around the [corridor area] and could not leave." | "The small number of people which who tried to leave were faced with shelling around the [corridor area] and could not leave." |
Aleppo, once Syria's largest city and the country's commercial and industrial hub, has been devastated by fighting since 2012. It has been left divided roughly in two, with President Bashar al-Assad's forces controlling the west and rebels the east. | Aleppo, once Syria's largest city and the country's commercial and industrial hub, has been devastated by fighting since 2012. It has been left divided roughly in two, with President Bashar al-Assad's forces controlling the west and rebels the east. |
At the start of September, troops and Iranian-backed militiamen severed the rebels' last route into the east and placed its 275,000 residents under siege. | At the start of September, troops and Iranian-backed militiamen severed the rebels' last route into the east and placed its 275,000 residents under siege. |
Two weeks later, following the collapse of a nationwide truce brokered by the US and Russia, the government launched a ground offensive to take full control of the city, accompanied by an aerial bombardment of unprecedented scale and intensity. | Two weeks later, following the collapse of a nationwide truce brokered by the US and Russia, the government launched a ground offensive to take full control of the city, accompanied by an aerial bombardment of unprecedented scale and intensity. |
At an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday, human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein warned that "crimes of historic proportions" were being committed in the east of the city and elsewhere in Syria. | At an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday, human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein warned that "crimes of historic proportions" were being committed in the east of the city and elsewhere in Syria. |
"The ancient city of Aleppo, a place of millennial civility and beauty, is today a slaughterhouse - a gruesome locus of pain and fear, where the lifeless bodies of small children are trapped under streets of rubble and pregnant women deliberately bombed," he said. | "The ancient city of Aleppo, a place of millennial civility and beauty, is today a slaughterhouse - a gruesome locus of pain and fear, where the lifeless bodies of small children are trapped under streets of rubble and pregnant women deliberately bombed," he said. |
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