BEIRUT (AP) The Russian military sent long-range bombers to strike a series of Islamic State targets in the group’s de facto capital of Raqqa on Thursday a fresh round of airstrikes that Syrian activists said killed at least 20 civilians and came amid Turkish calls for greater cooperation with Moscow against the extremist group.
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Aleppo is split into rebel and government controlled areas.
He added that a road had been built to an area on the northern outskirts of Aleppo through the Castello shopping center to “ensure safety and organize round-the-clock delivery of food, water, fuel, medicine and other necessities to the city’s west and east”.
Aleppo, which has been beset by constant violence since 2012, and the site of unspeakable suffering from air strikes, ground fighting, and even chemical weapons attacks, has become a humanitarian nightmare.
Fifteen of the only remaining doctors in the eastern half implored United States president Barack Obama Thursday to protect civilians from atrocities in their city.
“Today in the meeting the Russian delegation confirmed their willingness to sit down with us (Thursday and Friday) to try to agree on a workable humanitarian pause for us to go the Aleppo road way to help the poor people of east as well as in the west”, United Nations humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland told reporters.
He added that Russian Federation, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels in Syria’s five-year-old civil war, would work with Damascus to ensure safe delivery of the aid.
The volunteer group said one of its most well-known members died after being buried under the rubble following a Wednesday airstrike in the Ramouseh area, recently seized by rebels from government forces.
“There were clashes all night and throughout the morning”, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
“We commend the bravery of medical professionals across Syria who are working every day in perilous circumstances with minimal supplies to save lives”, the official said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 24 civilians were killed, along with six others whose affiliation or identities were not immediately confirmed.
The northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s most populous before the war, is split into rebel and government-held districts.
The defence ministry said the raids also destroyed a weapons storage facility and a training camp for IS fighters to the north and southeast.
Both sides in the conflict have been accused of using chemical weapons, charges the regime and rebels both deny.
The Bashar al-Assad regime, backed by the Russian military and Iran, severed key supply routes into the city in the spring, sealing off the last road for resources into eastern Aleppo in July. “Prove that you are the friend of Syrians”, the letter said, according to the BBC.
A medic at the hospital said they had received a lot of casualties, who were “all ages”, including children and elderly people.
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“There were children that suffered from chronic diseases that need additional tests”, he said.
