“If the rebels can take control of these schools, they will cut the supply route into regime-held districts of western Aleppo and they must seize the adjoining area of Ramussa to lift the siege on the rebel districts”, he said.
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Half the country’s population has been forced to flee their homes with an estimated 5 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition monitor, said there were at least 40 air strikes on opposition areas, including on a camp for displaced people in Atareb, south-west of Aleppo.
August 3, 2016 (EIRNS)-Has Secretary of State John Kerry abandoned the “plan B” for Syria with which he was threatening Russian Federation in May?
The group said it verified each attack.
The UN has in recent days pinned hopes on efforts by Moscow and Washington to restore a ceasefire in Syria as fighting intensifies.
The latest reports from the area are that the government, backed by Russian jets, has regained some ground.
In an audio message released Friday, Abu Mohamed al-Jolani, the head of Al-Qaeda’s former affiliate in Syria, pledged that the rebel offensive which started on Sunday would soon succeed. The official SANA agency said five people died.
The Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, reported on Wednesday that government forces “advanced again south and southwest of Aleppo because of the major setbacks” among rebel factions.
The UN says 300,000 civilians still live in rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, despite four years of fighting and near-daily bombing.
“This battle is the last chance for rebels”.
In an audio message, Jolani said God had granted fighters “a glorious victory in the battle to break the siege of Aleppo”. As long as the bombing, shelling and fighting continues, and in the absence of any genuine confidence-building measures, civilians can not be expected to trust in the safety of walking through these proposed corridors. “They’ve been preparing for this battle for months and it’ll be a tough blow for its troops if they lose”.
“But if the rebels will not leave and prefer to fight on, he will want the people out so he can bomb the city at will without lots of civilian casualties”, said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma.
A man walks past a damaged ambulance after an air strike hit Anadan Hospital yesterday, sponsored by the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), in the rebel held city of Anadan, northern Aleppo province, Syria July 31, 2016.
The warning came as yet another hospital in Aleppo was hit overnight, with the M2 facility run by the Syrian American Medical Society bombed for the third time.
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“We continue to believe that no one has an interest in further escalating the military situation in Aleppo in a way that would impede humanitarian aid and also impede chances of political settlement”, he said.
