Russian jets pound Aleppo as U.S. clings
to diplomacy
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[October 01, 2016]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) - Russian war planes struck
rebel held areas north of Aleppo on Saturday as the army shelled the
besieged old quarter in a major offensive, rebels and a monitoring group
said.
Russia was reported on Friday to be sending more warplanes to Syria to
ramp up its air campaign as the United States said it had not yet given
up on finding a diplomatic resolution.
The latest strikes come 10 days into a Russian-backed Syrian government
offensive to capture rebel-held eastern Aleppo and crush the last urban
stronghold of a revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that
began in 2011.
Saturday's air strikes focused on major supply lines into rebel-held
areas - the Castello Road and Malah district - while fighting raged in
the Suleiman al Halabi neighborhood, the front line to the north of
Aleppo's Old City.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov spoke by telephone for a third day on Friday, with Russia's top
diplomat saying Moscow was ready to consider more ways to normalize the
situation in Aleppo.
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But Lavrov criticized Washington's failure to separate moderate rebel
groups from those the Russians call terrorists, which had allowed forces
led by the group formerly known as the Nusra front to violate the
U.S.-Russian truce agreed on Sept. 9.
The United States made clear it would not, at least for now, carry
through a threat made on Wednesday to halt the diplomacy if Russia did
not take immediate steps to end the violence.
Moscow and Assad spurned the ceasefire to launch the new offensive,
potentially the biggest and most decisive battle of the civil war, which
is now in its sixth year.
BACK AND FORTH
An army source quoted in state media said its forces had made advances,
which was denied by rebels who say they had repelled a new assault.
A news commentary by the state-run Ikhbariyah said "high level
coordination from the air and ground by Syrian and Russian warplanes"
had allowed the two allies to "successful hit locations where terrorist
groups had dug in."
But rebels say Syrian troops backed by fresh reinforcements from
Iranian-backed militias were struggling to make any gains in a ground
offensive in a key frontline in the old city.
"They are shelling the old city heavily after another failed attempt to
gain ground. They have lost several fighters and we are steadfast," said
Abu Hamam, a rebel from the Failaq al-Sham group.
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![](../images/100116PICS/news_n17.jpg)
A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike on
the rebel held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria.
REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that
monitors the war, reported heavy bombardment by government forces
and "back and forth" fighting in the Suleiman al-Halabi
neighborhood.
The monitor said warplanes struck a field hospital in the heavily
bombed rebel-held al Sakhour district in the second such strike on
one of four such medical facilities targeted in the last few days.
The strike caused at least one death and several injuries and put
the hospital out of service, the monitor said.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the bombing and many hundreds
more wounded, with little access to treatment in hospitals that lack
basic supplies.
Residents say the air strikes are unprecedented in their ferocity,
deploying heavier bombs that flatten buildings on top of the people
huddled inside.
Russia joined the war exactly a year ago, tipping the balance of
power in favor of Assad, who is also supported by Iranian ground
forces and Shi'ite militia from Lebanon and Iraq.
The army said it would press its advantage after retaking last
Thursday the strategic Handarat camp north of Aleppo that had
already changed hands once since the start of the attack.
The Observatory said at least 20 were killed by sustained Russian
and Syrian army strikes and artillery shelling on Friday and into
the early hours of Saturday, while state media said rebel mortar
attacks on government-held Midan, al Ithaa and other areas in the
city had killed at least 20 people.
(Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Alexander Smith)
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