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Syrian Army artillery pounds rebel positions in Aleppo
AFP, BeirutFriday, 9 December 2016 Syrian government artillery bombarded the fast-shrinking rebel enclave in the heart of Aleppo on Friday despite its ally Russia’s announcement of a new humanitarian pause, a monitor said. Air strikes halted on Thursday evening following Moscow’s announcement but shelling continued throughout the night and into the morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An AFP correspondent in the rebel-held enclave reported hearing the boom of artillery through the night. “There was heavy shelling of several besieged districts and fierce fighting, particularly in Bustan al-Qasr,” one of the biggest districts still in rebel hands after the army’s blistering three-week offensive, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. After talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the German city of Hamburg on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced a pause in the army’s assault to allow for the evacuation of some of the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the now tiny rebel enclave. The army has recaptured 85 percent of the eastern sector of the city which the rebels had held since summer 2012. “I can tell you that today combat operations by the Syrian army have been halted in eastern Aleppo because there is a large operation under way to evacuate civilians,” Lavrov said. “There is going to be to a column of 8,000 evacuees.” In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Lavrov’s announcement was “an indication that something positive could happen.” The army’s bombardment of rebel-held districts killed at least 18 civilians on Thursday, according to the Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group which has a wide network of sources on the ground. Aleppo Witnesses Renewed Bombardment Beirut- Regime air forces in Syria renewed aerial bombardment of rebel-held Aleppo eastern neighborhoods on Friday. All eyes have turned to the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield making advances on al-Bab grounds, an ISIS controlled city in northern Syria. Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the body was “gravely concerned” both for those “being squeezed into ever-shrinking areas” as regime forces advance, and for those who have fled. He also pointed out that over a 100,000 civilians have stayed inside rebel-held grounds in eastern Aleppo, and areas closed off by war. Unfolding developments in Syria, especially the Turkish-led advance, have shaped a great challenge to be later faced by senior Russian and U.S. diplomats. Euphrates Shield forces have stunned Syrian regime forces by resuming operations and attacks after a pause that surpassed 20 days, making a deafening advance of two kilometers. The United Nations General Assembly voted 122 to 13 on Friday to demand an immediate cessation of hostilities in Syria, humanitarian aid access throughout the country and an end to all sieges, including in Aleppo. Among objecting states, were Russia, Iran and China, 36 other states abstained. Thirty-six countries abstained in the vote on the Canadian-drafted resolution on the nearly six-year Syrian conflict. General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, but can carry political weight. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday delivered a “promised” victory being imminent for Syrian regime forces and their allies in the city of Aleppo. “There are great events taking place now in our region … (such as) what is happening in Aleppo, and the ramifications of the promised and coming victory for the whole battle in Syria and the region,” he said in a speech broadcast. Posted by: badanov 2016-12-11 |
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