Renewed fighting in Syria’s largest city of Aleppo targeted another hospital Tuesday, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for reviving a cease-fire that went into effect in late February.
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Kerry said the US and Russian Federation were working on the details of a more durable cease-fire that would include Aleppo and prevent the metropolis from falling.
After a relative lull in clashes on Monday and early Tuesday, rebels in eastern Aleppo fired a barrage of at least 65 rockets into government-controlled neighbourhoods, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. Lavrov said a ceasefire in Aleppo could be reinforced quickly after fighting which has seen more than 250 people killed in a week.”Now the Russian and the USA military finalize agreements on a ceasefire regime in the city of Aleppo”.
The Syrian government has accused the rebels in Aleppo of violating the U.S. He said the US rejects violence against civilians, whether it’s by Assad’s government or Western-backed opposition groups. “But I do not think that they have any justification, at least some excuse [for the military invasion] because the ceasefire [in Syria] is strengthening after all”, Lavrov said.
Kerry said in Washington that an accord renewing a partial ceasefire nationwide should come “as soon as possible”. There may be even other repercussions being discussed.
“If Assad does not adhere to this, there will clearly be repercussions”, Kerry warned.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency said “scores” were killed or injured in rebel shelling on government neighborhoods in western Aleppo.
The human rights monitoring group, in a statement, broke out hundreds of killings it said were committed by both Syrian government forces and rebel organizations.
Meanwhile in Berlin, the German and French foreign ministers were meeting with United Nations envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and Syrian opposition leader Riad Hijab as part of efforts to get the moribund peace talks back on track.
Lavrov also said a meeting of the International Syria Support Group could be convened in the coming weeks.
Ongoing hostilities in Aleppo have further imperiled Syria’s cessation of hostilities, the White House said Tuesday, warning of a “deteriorating” security situation.
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Syrian security forces evacuate medical staff after rockets hit Al-Dabbeet hospital in government-controlled neighbourhood of Muhafaza in the northern city of Aleppo.
