Syrian and Russian aircraft pounded rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Friday, a monitor said, after the army announced a new offensive aimed at retaking all of the divided second city.
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“If there’s really a siege around the city of Aleppo, people would have been dead by now”, he said, as he asked how rebels were able to smuggle in arms but apparently not food or medicine.
Lavrov said that the Syrian opposition seeking to oust Assad needs to take steps toward a compromise to prevent extremist groups like the Islamic State “from taking the advantage of the situation”.
A deadly attack on an aid convoy and Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouse outside Aleppo on Monday, for which Washington and Moscow have blamed each other, prompted the United Nations to temporarily suspend deliveries across the country.
The resumption was also announced by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the global body’s aid agency, which said in a statement Wednesday: “The preparation for these convoys has now resumed and we are ready to deliver aid to besieged and hard-to-reach areas as soon as possible”.
Elizabeth Hoff, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Syria, said on Wednesday that the United Nations health agency planned to deliver medical supplies on Thursday to the rebel-held besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiya, subject to the normal security risk assessments.
– The United States Secretary of State said Thursday that Russia must show that it is serious and admitted that diplomatic efforts on the resumption of the truce are at an impasse, after a long meeting with his Russian counterpart ended without agreement between the two key powers.
Zakaria Malahifji, head of the Aleppo-based Fastaqim rebel faction’s political office, said it was the most intense bombardment since April.
US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile called for all military aircraft in Syria to be grounded in the wake of the aid convoy attack.
A senior State Department official speaking to the media on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly said it is impossible to say a cease-fire is in effect when Syrian forces are conducting a renewed offensive on Aleppo.
Assad said USA strikes, which killed 62 Syrian government troops in Deir ez-Zor on September 17, were “intentional” and they lasted for an hour.
The AFP correspondent said the scale of the destruction was the heaviest he had seen in years of fighting in the city and was overwhelming rescue teams.
Prof Ayson says Mr al-Assad probably doesn’t care for the civilians – and is himself probably a terrorist.
The idea, however, has been rejected by Russian Federation and also Iranian President Hassan Rowhani, saying there was “no logic” to stopping the Syrian government planes, as they are one of Assad’s few military advantages.
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But the deal collapsed Monday after the USA inadvertently struck a Syrian regime camp killing 62 regime soldiers. “You don’t commit a mistake for more than one hour”.
