Syrian army halts Aleppo attacks as rebels cornered

ALEPPO: Syria’s army has halted its attacks in Aleppo to allow trapped civilians to be evacuated, Russia’s foreign minister said, after advancing regime forces cornered rebels in the city.

Immediately after the announcement, AFP correspondents in Aleppo said airstrikes ceased and artillery fire was far less intense, but later reported that the army was continuing to shell two rebels districts, Kalasseh and al-Maadi.

The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights monitoring group also reported sporadic clashes with new raids and artillery fire late on Thursday and said at least 18 civilians had been killed during the day in rebel zones by regime raids and artillery.

The situation on the ground seemed somewhat at odds with comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier on Thursday after talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the German city of Hamburg.

“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 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 UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said after Lavrov spoke that talks to end the nearly six-year war should resume soon.

“Now is the time to actually look seriously at the possible renewal of political discussions,” he said after a closed-door meeting of the Security Council.

The General Assembly was to vote yesterday on a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid, although the British ambassador described the measure as “too little, too late”.

A senior State Department official said Lavrov and Kerry “agreed to continue having discussions about establishing a framework for a ceasefire”.

There was no immediate reaction from Damascus.

Moscow is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and launched an air war in support of his forces last year, while Washington and other Western nations have supported rebel forces. — AFP