Russia says Syria truce extended, IS landmines kill and wound hundreds

BEIRUT: The Russian military said on Tuesday the halt of Russian and Syrian air strikes, now in its seventh day, on besieged eastern parts of the city of Aleppo will continue and humanitarian corridors will remain open even as the Syrian army has unleashed a new offensive on the rebel-held neighbourhoods.

Last week, Russia also declared a three-day break in fighting intended to allow the evacuation of both militants and civilians from Aleppo’s rebelheld eastern part. The rebels rejected the Russian offer, citing lack of security guarantees for the evacuees, and the planned evacuation of civilians also failed.

Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military’s General Staff accused the militants of preventing both civilians and the rebels willing to leave Aleppo from exiting the city.

While the Syrian army has resumed its offensive, Rudskoi said six humanitarian corridors have remained open and new breaks in fighting could be negotiated to evacuate civilians.

Leading international rights group Human Rights Watch said homemade land mines planted by the IS killed and wounded hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children, in Manbij, a town recently freed of the militants in Syria. In a report issued on Wednesday, it said it collected the names of 69 civilians killed — including 19 children — by improvised mines in schools, homes and on roads.