“Step by step, we are getting closer to a plan – and I am only talking about Aleppo here – that will indeed allow us to start fighting together to bring peace to this troubled land and to allow people to return to their homes”.
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Shoigu said in the TV interview that extremists in Syria are often positioned near groups that the USA considers moderate. Jabhat al-Nusra cut its ties with al-Qa’ida and renamed itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham in late July, apparently to deflect pressure from Washington and Moscow.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 26 airstrikes on Sunday across Idlib, one of the last remaining opposition bastions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
According to Haq, the situation is also of great concern in the government-controlled areas in the west, where between 1.2 and 1.5 million people live.
Aleppo has been mired in intense fighting during the past few weeks, with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of militants in eastern districts of Aleppo. The Russians, Assad’s longtime allies, have been helping the Syrian government with airstrikes and bombings that target many of those same groups.
GENEVA, Switzerland – The battle for Syria’s ravaged second city Aleppo is one of the worst urban conflicts ever fought, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday, August 15.
“We have nothing to announce at this time”, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters in Washington.
Russian Federation backs Assad in the five-year-old Syria conflict, while the United States wants to see Assad step down.
The operation, in which U.S. special forces played a significant role, marks the most ambitious advance by a group allied to Washington in Syria since the United States launched its military campaign against ISIS two years ago.
Senior Russian and USA military officials have held Geneva negotiations on Aleppo and on restoring an overall ceasefire, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said last Thursday.
United Nations officials and outside aid groups have warned of an unprecedented humanitarian calamity in Aleppo if the siege is not ended, calling for at least 48-hour weekly humanitarian pauses so food and water can be delivered.
Russian Federation has delivered aid to Aleppo and is helping to rebuild damaged water pumping stations, Shoigu said. The toll includes 126 people killed by rebel shelling of government-held parts of Aleppo city.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained on Monday that Syrian militants had used temporary ceasefires in fighting in and around Aleppo to regroup and rearm.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia should play a more active role in helping to resolve the Syria crisis.
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But the official spokesman for the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Riad Nassan Agha, said on Monday the HNC was unaware of this meeting.
