Syria army pounds Aleppo rebels as US, Russia to meet

ALEPPO, Syria: Syrian warplanes again pounded Aleppo’s last rebel-held districts, as the United States said American and Russian officials would meet yesterday in a bid to save the city from ‘complete’ destruction.

With the fighting resuming after a brief respite, the UN General Assembly demanded an immediate ceasefire and urgent aid deliveries, in a resolution adopted by a strong majority.

US officials will meet yetserday with their Russian counterparts in Geneva to try to stop Aleppo “being absolutely, completely destroyed”, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

He was in Paris for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Western and Arab backers of Syria’s weakened opposition, also on Saturday.

Kerry was not upbeat about the chances of success, however, as key regime ally Russia vowed that the assault would not end until rebels leave Aleppo.

“I know people are tired of these meetings, I’m tired of these meetings,” Kerry said.

“But what am I supposed to do? Go home and have a nice

I know people are tired of these meetings, I’m tired of these meetings. — John Kerry, US Secretary of State

weekend ... while people are dying? Sit there in Washington and do nothing?”

Government strikes had halted briefly from Thursday night, when Moscow announced a pause in the regime offensive to allow the evacuation of civilians, although shelling did not cease.

Syria’s army is three weeks into a battle to retake east Aleppo from rebels who are now confined to just a few neighbourhoods in their former bastion.

The city’s loss would be the biggest blow for the rebels in Syria’s nearly six-year-old war, which has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced over half the country’s population.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled east Aleppo in recent weeks, although the United Nations said Friday it had received reports that rebels had blocked some from leaving.

It also expressed concern about reports that hundreds of men had gone missing after fleeing to government-held territory.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, reported at least a dozen air strikes on rebel-held neighbourhoods on Friday afternoon.

Artillery fire had continued throughout Thursday night and into Friday after Moscow’s announcement, the monitor and an AFP correspondent in east Aleppo reported.

Syria’s army has captured around 85 per cent of east Aleppo, with rebels and remaining civilians confined to a shrinking space in increasingly grim conditions.

East Aleppo has been encircled by the regime since mid-July, with international aid provisions exhausted and remaining food supplies dwindling even before the government assault began in mid-November. — AFP