Pope Francis, in his strongest appeal to date on the conflict in Syria, yesterday called for an “immediate ceasefire” to allow for the evacuation of civilians.
The war in Syria has escalated since efforts to reach a ceasefire collapsed last month.
Syria and its ally Russia subsequently launched their biggest offensive on the city of Aleppo’s rebel-held sectors.
Photo: AFP
The air strikes have drawn widespread condemnation, including calls from France and the US for an investigation into war crimes they say have been committed by Syrian and Russian forces.
“It is with a sense of urgency that I renew my appeal, imploring those responsible with all my strength for an immediate ceasefire,” the pope said before tens of thousands of people at his weekly general audience in Saint Peter’s Square.
Francis said a ceasefire was essential “at least for the time necessary to allow for the evacuation of civilians, especially children, who are still trapped by cruel bombardments.”
Photo: Reuters
Francis has made many appeals for an end to the bloodshed in Syria. Last month, he urged forces to stop bombing civilians in Aleppo, warning them they would face God’s judgement. He did not name those carrying out the air strikes.
Meanwhile, an intensive day of bombing of Aleppo on Tuesday left at least 25 people dead, including five children, overwhelming rescue workers who continued yesterday to search for survivors under the rubble, according to activists and a civil defense spokesman.
While, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights yesterday said that Tuesday’s bombings killed 25 people, the Syrian Civil Defense, a team of first responders in rebel-held areas, and activist media platform Aleppo Media Center put the death toll at 41.
The observatory said the bombings continued yesterday.
The observatory said at least 358 civilians have been killed in eastern Aleppo since a US-Russian ceasefire collapsed on Sept. 19.
The UN says more than 100 children have been killed in the campaign, which has also included a limited ground offensive.
Syria Civil Defense workers on Tuesday pulled at least one boy alive from under the rubble, amid cheers from onlookers in eastern Aleppo’s al-Fardous neighborhood. The boy emerged covered in dust and dazed from the flattened building, grapping his rescuer tightly.
His mother survived, but remains in critical condition, said Ibrahim al-Haj, a member of the first-responder team, also known as the White Helmets.
The boy had lost his father and brother in previous bombings of the city, according to al-Haj.
In other developments, Turkey said yesterday that it fears the world will be plunged into a global conflict with Russia and the US on opposing sides if the proxy war in Syria continues.
“If this proxy war continues, after this, let me be clear, America and Russia will come to a point of war,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in an interview with Anadolu news agency.
Kurtulmus said that the Syrian conflict had put the world “on the brink of the beginning of a large regional or global war.”
Ankara is part of the US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group with air strikes, but it has also supported Syrian opposition fighters to retake territory from the group since Aug. 24.
Additional reporting by AFP
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