Aleppo city quiet on third day of
ceasefire, some clashes
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[October 22, 2016]
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Calm prevailed
across the divided Syrian city of Aleppo on Saturday, the third day of a
unilateral ceasefire announced by Russia, but medical evacuations and
aid deliveries have yet to take place, a war monitor said.
No Syrian or Russian air strikes on the eastern rebel-held side of
Aleppo, Syria's most populous city before the war, have been reported
since Russia began the pause in hostilities on Thursday, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said.
But rebels have said they cannot accept the ceasefire, which they say
does nothing to alleviate the situation of those who choose to remain in
rebel-held Aleppo, and believe it is part of a government policy to
purge cities of political opponents.
The Syrian army and Russia have called on residents and rebels in
besieged eastern Aleppo to leave the city through designated corridors
and depart for other insurgent-held districts under a promise of safe
travel, but very few rebels or civilians appear to have left.
"Nobody has left through the corridors. The small number of people which
who tried to leave were faced with shelling around the (corridor area)
and could not leave," said Zakaria Malahifji, a rebel official with the
Fastaqim group, which is present in the city.
Malahifji said shelling and clashes continued at normal levels in parts
of the city.
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Syrian state media says rebels are preventing civilians from leaving
east Aleppo. Pro-government channels broadcast footage of ambulances and
green busses parked at empty reception points in government Aleppo, said
to be waiting for civilians and fighters from the city's east.
The United Nations had hoped that the ceasefires would allow medical
evacuations from the city, but said a lack of security guarantees and
facilitation were preventing aid workers taking advantage of the pause
in bombing.
Sporadic clashes between insurgents and Syrian government and allied
forces have been reported during the period of calm along frontlines,
with some shells falling on both the government-held western side of the
city and the rebel-held east, the Observatory said.
Aleppo has been a major battleground in the Syrian conflict, now in its
sixth year. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by the Russian
military, Iran's Revolutionary Guards and an array of Shi'ite Muslim
militias, wants to take full control of the city.
Syrian and Russian forces say they are targeting fighters linked to
al-Qaeda from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front,
in eastern Aleppo. Insurgents say Syria and Russia are indiscriminately
targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure to take over rebel-held
eastern Aleppo.
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A general view taken with a drone shows a road separating Aleppo's
government-controlled areas from the rebel-held ones in Syria
October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail
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Diplomatic negotiations between Russia and the United States have in
recent weeks focused on whether there is a way to separate
al-Qaeda-linked fighters in eastern Aleppo from more moderate
rebels, thereby depriving Syrian and Russian forces of their main
targets.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday Russia remains
committed to removing what is calls terrorist organizations from
Syria and preventing the disintegration of the country.
"A temporary base is not a goal, it's a means to achieve the goal
that was declared by the president - to help legitimate Syrian
authorities in their fight with ISIS and other terrorist
organizations. The Syrian territory must be liberated," Peskov said
in an television interview.
"We need to liberate and do everything possible to prevent the
division of the country," he said, adding that he did not see an end
to the Syria conflict in the foreseeable future.
Russia has been announcing daily that it will abide by the next day
of the ceasefire.
When asked if further extensions of the Aleppo pause after the
initial four days was under discussion, Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by RIA news agency quoted as
saying it depends on the actions of other parties.
"We'll see how today goes. At the highest level it's already been
said that (extending the pause) depends not on our possibilities but
it largely depends on whether there is a proper movement from the
opposite direction," he said.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Beirut and Maria Kiselyova in
Moscow; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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