Russian and Syrian warplanes yesterday again pounded Aleppo after two days of heavy bombardment that killed more than scores of civilians, as world powers prepared for last-ditch weekend talks on a ceasefire.
More than 20 air strikes hit the rebel-controlled eastern part of Aleppo at dawn yesterday, killing seven civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
On the northeastern outskirts of the city, advancing regime troops captured several hilltops overlooking opposition-held areas.
Photo: AFP
Syrian state television said four children were killed by rebel rocket fire on a school in a Western regime-held neighborhood.
The bombing has killed more than 150 people this week, rescue workers said yesterday.
Airstrikes killed 13 people yesterday, when warplanes hit several rebel-held districts, including al-Kalaseh, Bustan al-Qasr and al-Sakhour, civil defence official Ibrahim Abu al-Laith said from Aleppo.
“The bombing started at 2am and it’s going on till now,” he said.
Seven children were among 71 civilians killed in strikes and regime artillery fire on eastern districts on Tuesday and Wednesday, observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
At least eight civilians were killed in opposition shelling of government-held districts over those two days, according to the British-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.
Since the army announced its assault on the city on Sept. 22, Russian and government bombardment on the eastern districts has killed more than 370 people, including 68 children, according to an observatory toll.
Shelling and rocket fire by myriad rebel and militant groups, meanwhile, has killed 68 people in government-held areas.
Several major international efforts have failed to secure a political solution to the war, which has killed more than 300,000 people.
Moscow has come under mounting international pressure over the rising civilian death toll from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Russian-backed campaign to take east Aleppo, including Western accusations of possible war crimes.
A new diplomatic push will take place this weekend. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov are expected to be joined in Lausanne tomorrow by their counterparts from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — all backers of Syrian opposition forces.
Neither side has confirmed an invitation to Iran, a key player in the conflict and an ally of al-Assad.
Kerry will likely meet up with his European counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in London on Sunday.
The UN said UN Special Eenvoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura had been invited to take part in the talks, but it was unclear if he would attend.
Lavrov on Wednesday told CNN in an interview that he hoped the discussions in Switzerland could help “launch a serious dialogue” based on the now-defunct US-Russian pact.
New Zealand on Wednesday presented another draft resolution to the UN Security Council demanding an end to air strikes on Aleppo.
In other developments, the government has partially approved a UN aid plan for this month, but not the UN’s request to deliver assistance to eastern Aleppo, diplomats said yesterday.
Damascus has given a green light for convoys of 25 to 29 vehicles to besieged and hard-to-reach areas across Syria, they said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number