The United States said it made a little progress on halting the violence in the Syrian war in talks with Russian Federation on Friday (Sept 23) as Moscow blasted Washington for throwing its weight around the world.
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The war has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global terror threat.
Syria’s army announced the launch Thursday of an offensive to retake the rebel-held east of the battleground city of Aleppo, warning residents to keep away from positions held by anti-regime fighters.
State media quoted the army’s military headquarters in Aleppo urging civilians in eastern parts of the city to avoid areas where “terrorists” were located and said it had prepared exit points for those who want to flee, including rebels.
SOHR said the pro-Assad initiative to empty districts of civilians would clear the way for bombing campaigns which would prevent worldwide accusations about the killing of innocent civilians.
The meeting came after Assad told the AP in an interview in Damascus that the United States was to blame for the deal’s failure.
When the U.S. -Russia brokered truce went into effect in Syria on September 12, calm prevailed Aleppo and other Syrian cities, but the violence renewed after the truce expired this Monday.
US officials said Tuesday that intelligence showed two Russian bombers flying in the area at the time of the attack, which world leaders blasted as “appalling” and “sickening”.
Doctors said that dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured.
Russian Federation and the U.S. negotiated the latest truce plan, but Syria ended the week-long ceasefire on Monday following a US-led coalition strike on a Syrian army post.
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.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that would amount to a “unilateral pause”.
Assad told AP that Russian Federation was not behind a deadly attack on an aid convoy on Monday, which United States officials have said they believe Moscow was responsible for.
Speaking in NY where he has been attending the United Nations, he urged the Russians to end the conflict by forcing their ally, Syrian president Bashar Assad, to the negotiating table.
While the US and Russian Federation have previously butted heads over several proposed resolutions critical of the Syrian government, Wednesday’s agenda didn’t even include a suggested course of action.
“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.
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The announcement by the Syrian defence ministry late on Thursday followed several hours of intense air strikes that left parts of Aleppo in flames, according to a monitor and opposition activists.
