Syrian government forces yesterday gained more ground in the battle for Aleppo as the UN Security Council prepared to vote on a resolution demanding a ceasefire in the battered city.
The Syrian army and allied forces seized the Qadi Askar neighborhood overnight and — three weeks into their offensive to retake rebel-held east Aleppo — were in control of around two thirds of former rebel territory, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest advances had left the large Shaar neighborhood effectively encircled by government forces.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the army was attacking both from inside east Aleppo and from government-held western districts.
“The regime is draining the rebels fighters of ammunition by opening many fronts at the same time,” he said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have made steady gains since launching the assault to retake all of east Aleppo. Its loss would mark the biggest defeat for rebel forces in the five-year war.
Terrified residents spent a sleepless night in rebel-held neighborhoods, as dozens of rockets rained down, a correspondent in east Aleppo said.
Many switched off all their lights, even turning off generators, because they were attracting bombardment. Residents were going into basements or cowering in the entrances of buildings in the hope of remaining safe.
Tens of thousands of east Aleppo residents have fled to other parts of the city from the fighting, which has raised widespread international concern.
The Security Council was scheduled yesterday to vote on a resolution demanding a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo and humanitarian access to residents trapped in the fighting, diplomats said.
Egypt, New Zealand and Spain drew up the text calling for a truce of at least seven days following lengthy negotiations with Russia, a staunch al-Assad ally.
Despite concessions by the resolution’s drafters, it remained unclear whether Moscow would use its veto in the council to block the measure.
The observatory says at least 319 people have been killed in east Aleppo during the offensive, including 44 children.
Rebel fire on the government-held west of the city has killed 69 people, including 28 children, in the same period, the monitor says.
State television yesterday reported that two more people had been killed and five wounded in rebel fire on west Aleppo.
The assault has added to the misery in east Aleppo, which has been targeted by relentless government fire since it fell to rebels in 2012.
The city’s east was surrounded by government forces in the middle of July, and no aid has entered the area since.
International aid provisions have been exhausted and other food supplies are dwindling, meaning many residents are surviving on a single meal a day.
Hundreds of Syrians have been returning to east Aleppo in recent days, some years after they left, but many have been disappointed to find their homes in ruins.
Kafa Jawish, 36, had dreamed of seeing her home again after four years, but burst into tears when she found her building little more than rubble.
“We were so optimistic ... but now we’ve found it like this, uninhabitable,” she said. “We spent years working to make a home, buying things for it, bit by bit ... and now there’s nothing in it and the house is destroyed. Oh God.”
Violence has continued elsewhere in the country alongside the Aleppo fighting, with at least 72 people killed in air strikes and barrel bomb attacks across the northwestern province of Idlib on Sunday, the observatory said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese