BEIRUT, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Warplanes mounted the heaviest air strikes in months against rebel-held districts of the city of Aleppo overnight, as Russian Federation and the Syrian government spurned a USA plea to halt flights, burying any hope for the revival of a doomed ceasefire.
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There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military or mention on state media of Thursday’s bombardment of Aleppo.
The president blames his enemies for almost six years of devastation across Syria, and while acknowledging some mistakes, he denies any excesses by his troops. Much of the worldwide community hailed that outcome, only to watch it unravel amid an upsurge in violence that included an accidental USA strike that killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers. Dunford said he sees “no reason to ground our aircraft” and that the US -led coalition needs to maintain pressure on the Islamic State group.
Heavy clashes gripped the outskirts of Aleppo on Thursday, after air strikes triggered major fires across the city’s devastated rebel-held districts.
Since then, the United Nations has accused Assad’s government of obstructing aid access to the city, despite an agreement to allow aid in during the weeklong cease-fire. “You can not take them at their word, to be frank”.
Throughout the conflict, Assad’s forces have been accused of bombing hospitals and civilians and choking opposition-held cities.
Addressing Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad, he pleaded, “Do your bit to enable us to get to eastern Aleppo and also the other besieged areas”. He said raids by Russian warplanes on Thursday killed 13 people, including 3 women, in the city.
Assad cast doubt on the intentions of the United States in Syria, saying it “doesn’t have the will” to fight militants.
He added that despite significant frustrations amongst the International Syria Support Group members, including backers of the opposition and government, “there at least was not a clear voice for a different path”. He also says the U.S. lacks “the will” to join forces with Russian Federation in fighting extremists.
Russian Federation said the strikes killed more than 60 Syrian troops, and afterward, IS militants briefly overran government positions in the area until they were beaten back.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met Wednesday night with his Russian counterpart, will attend today’s meeting of the International Syria Support Group, as will Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, setting up a potential confrontation between the top diplomats for the two powers. Russian Federation has denied that its aircraft or Syrian warplanes struck the convoy.
The war has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global terror threat.
Amid deep pessimism over whether the truce could be resurrected, the group was to consider a US call for all warplanes to halt flights over aid routes following an attack on a humanitarian convoy near the besieged city of Aleppo and a Russian suggestion for a three-day pause in fighting to get the so-called “cessation of hostilities” back on track. “At the end of the day, I think Congress needs to challenge what’s going on in Syria”.
“(The figure of 4,378) should reflect Russian numbers in Syria pretty closely, as turnouts at Russian military base polling stations tend to be 100 percent”, a CIT note said.
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Asked about his methods, including the use of indiscriminate weapons, Assad said “when you have terrorists, you don’t throw at them balloons, or you don’t use rubber sticks for example”.
