The United States and Russian Federation have agreed to extend a cessation of hostilities in Syria to include Aleppo Province, site of an uptick in fighting.
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The government and its ally Russian Federation say only al-Nusra positions in Aleppo are being targeted, but the opposition and the USA accuse them of indiscriminately attacking civilians and rebels abiding by the cessation of hostilities.
The United States maintains that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must eventually step down but is working with Russian Federation to secure a short-term peace, even though Russian Federation backs Assad.
A surge in fighting in Aleppo in the past two weeks has killed nearly 300 people and left a nine-week nationwide cessation of hostilities close to collapse.
Meanwhile, two top United Nations officials have told the Security Council that those responsible for hospital attacks and starvation sieges in Syria’s frontline city of Aleppo should face trial for war crimes. At least 19 people, including three children, were killed in rebel shelling that hit a hospital and residential areas in government-held areas in Aleppo on Tuesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“The assault was repelled, foiling a major attempt by these terrorist groups to make a breakthrough into the heart of Aleppo”, Hassan Hassan said on state-run Ikhbariyah TV.
O’Brien said hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured in “the carnage in Aleppo” in the last 10 days and blamed all parties.
He also said the violence and killing must stop.
The UN stated that Russian Federation was working with the organization and with the United States to add Aleppo in the calm-strategy that was applied in Damascus and Latakia.
Intense fighting continued in the city, and hospitals in both rebel and government-held areas were hit, amid some of the worst civilian casualties of the war. “If, as we all hope, there will be definite confirmation that even Aleppo will return to a ceasefire regime, we can imagine that we can restart (peace) talks at the same time”.
The unilateral truce had been effect in Latakia and the eastern Ghouta region around Damascus since the weekend thanks to the efforts of the Russian and USA militaries, he said.
France plans to invite ministers from countries that support Syrian opposition groups to a meeting in Paris on May 9 to seek ways to break the political and military deadlock in the country, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.
If hostilities cease in Aleppo, then “we will be restarting and pushing also for the humanitarian access and for the intra-Syrian talks”.
De Mistura, said the alternative to a cease-fire in Aleppo is “catastrophic”, raising the possibility that 400,000 people could head for the Turkish border.
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The Syrian army has announced it is implementing what it calls “a regime of calm” in the city of Aleppo for 48-hours.
