US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged all parties to the Syrian conflict to end violence and restore the cessation of hostilities during his second day of talks focusing on the Syria here.
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Kerry made the remarks after meeting with UN Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva on Monday, at a joint news conference.
Standing by de Mistura, he thanked him for supporting a political process in the midst of ‘a conflict that is in may ways out of control and deeply disturbing to everybody in the world, I hope’.
Over the past several days the U.S. Secretary of State also called the related sides, including main Syrian opposition’s General Coordinator for the High Negotiations Committee, Riyad Hijab, expressing his deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Aleppo.
But those agreements have not been extended to Aleppo, where government air strikes and rebel shelling have killed hundreds of civilians in the past week, including more than 50 people in a hospital rebels say was deliberately targeted by the army.
The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, which organizes rescue operations in opposition-held areas of Aleppo, said several civilians were killed and wounded, including a judge for the hard-line jihadist faction Ahrar al-Sham. “And it has to stop”.
A senior US diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US, Russia and the United Nations have moved forward on a new ceasefire mechanism for Aleppo, but a deal was not complete.
“We’re getting closer to a place of understanding, but we have some work to do, and that’s why we’re here”, Kerry said during his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir.
‘Now is the time to launch the battle for the complete liberation of Aleppo, ‘ the paper said.
Moscow and Washington, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, vowed to take further steps to prepare for the next talks aimed at finding a political settlement of the five-year-long crisis, the statement added.
Amaq, a news agency affiliated to Islamic State, said the militants had gained control of the villages of Doudayan, Tel Shaer and Iykda from rival rebels in the northern Aleppo area near the border with Turkey.
While agreeing in theory to support a ceasefire, Russian Federation has done little to rein in Assad’s forces around Aleppo, which were in action again early today.
Russian Federation and Assad’s regime have used the presence of Al-Nusra, which was not party to a February 27 ceasefire deal, as an excuse to press their offensive.
As of Sunday, more than 250 civilians, including 49 children and 31 women, had been killed throughout the 10 days of escalated fighting between government forces and rebels, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Aleppo was initially left out of a deal to “reinforce” the February truce agreement.
The same “freeze” is set to last until 1:00 am Tuesday in Latakia, a regime stronghold.
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Diplomatic pressure is mounting to extend a ceasefire in Syria to Aleppo province after more than a week of fierce bombing that has killed hundreds of people there.
