Syrian government forces and their Russian allies launched an offensive on opposition-held areas of Aleppo on Friday, bombarding the city with dozens of airstrikes and threatening to launch a ground invasion.
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Kodmani added: “I think if we say it’s a moment of truth, it’s a moment of truth for the global community, the United States, its allies, the U.N. And it’s a tragic moment for the population of Aleppo”.
Residents and activists described the use of a missile that produced earthquake-like tremors upon impact and razed buildings right down to the basement level where many residents desperately seek protection during bombing.
On Monday, a United Nations aid convoy was attacked, in what the U.S. says was a Russian air strike, though Moscow rejects the charges.
The group said an intense bombing campaign had targeted several neighbourhoods in the rebel-held part of Aleppo city, including centres of the award-winning volunteer civil defence group known as the White Helmets.
A Syrian military source told Reuters the operation announced late on Thursday was continuing according to plan.
A rebel commander called the bombings the fiercest the city had ever seen.
His remarks come as fighting in Syria resumes with unabated intensity after a US-Russian-brokered ceasefire was declared by the Syrian army on Monday as having failed.
As the diplomats huddled in a NY hotel, Syria’s military command said it would restart operations in the northern city of Aleppo, scene of some of the bitterest fighting in recent months.
At least 30 strikes hit the rebel-held east of the city during the night and early this morning. “What’s happening now is annihilation”, he said.
The U.S. -Russian agreement marked their second attempt this year to halt the war.
The United States and Russian Federation failed on Thursday at the United Nations to agree on how to revive a short-lived ceasefire. It included a nationwide truce, improved humanitarian aid access and the possibility of joint military operations against al-Qaeda-linked groups and the banned Islamist groups.
It was unclear whether the new offensive would involve ground troops.
But the atmosphere between the two great powers has grown frosty following a US airstrike last weekend that killed scores of Syrian government troops – attributed by Washington to a mistake – and Monday’s attack on a Syrian Red Crescent aid convoy, which left at least 20 dead.
“We’re evaluating some mutual ideas in a constructive way”, Kerry said of his talks Friday with Russia’s top diplomat.
Instead, Kerry and Lavrov, who negotiated the truce two weeks ago, went their separate ways as violence in Syria flared up anew and the relationship between the two key foreign powers in the conflict appeared to reach a new low. “I am no less determined today than I was yesterday but I am even more frustrated”.
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Kerry has called for the grounding of aircraft over key aid routes, a proposal that Moscow has described as unworkable.
