Counter-attacks by the Islamic State group have killed at least 47 US-backed fighters over two days as the jihadists struck from their embattled holdout in eastern Syria, a war monitor said Saturday.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Kurdish-led alliance supported by a US-led coalition is battling to expel the jihadists from a pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on the Iraqi border.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the jihadists launched "three separate assaults" on Saturday.

The monitor said the counter-attacks targeted the villages of Al-Bahra and Gharanij and an area close to the Al-Tanak oilfield, which is commercially active but is also an SDF military position.&nbsp;

SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali confirmed "a series of attacks" led by IS in these three locations and said fighting had taken place all day, with the Kurdish-led ground forces receiving coalition air support.

The fighting on Saturday alone killed 29 SDF fighters, taking its total losses over the last two days to at least 47, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.&nbsp;

Thirty-nine IS jihadists have been killed -- some in the ground clashes, others in air strikes -- over the same period, the Observatory said.&nbsp;

'A broad attack'

IS confirmed in a statement on Telegram that it had launched attacks near Al-Bahra and Gharanij.&nbsp;

Earlier, the Observatory said IS had broken out of its holdout on Friday to attack Al-Bahra, where SDF fighters and coalition advisers are based.

"IS launched a broad attack on the village of Al-Bahra next to its holdout, taking advantage of the fog," Abdel Rahman said.

The monitor said coalition raids have also killed 17 civilians, including five children, in the IS-held pocket since Friday.

Coalition spokesman Sean Ryan said he had not received any reports of civilian casualties, and insisted air strikes had been "very limited due to the weather".&nbsp;

Deir Ezzor activist Omar Abu Leila said the attack on Al-Bahra was "very scary" and that IS fighters were able to move quickly "taking advantage of the fog".

'Probable chlorine attack'

Meanwhile, Syrian regime shelling killed nine civilians including seven children Saturday in a planned buffer zone around the country's last major rebel bastion, the Observatory said.

A teacher and four schoolchildren were among the victims after the shelling hit near a school in the northwestern province of Idlib, said Abdel Rahman.

Later in the evening, in neighbouring Aleppo which is under Syrian regime control, official media accused the rebels of launching an attack with "toxic gas".

Regional head of health services, Ziad Hajj Taha, said it was a "probable" chlorine attack.

It is not the first time such accusations have been levelled against the rebels in Aleppo. On other occasions the Syrian regime has been accused of using chemical weapons against rebel strongholds, which it has always denied.

The anti-IS alliance has repeatedly denied previous reports of civilians killed in its air strikes, and said it does its utmost to avoid hitting non-combatants.

IS overran large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" in land it controlled but has lost most of it to offensives by multiple forces in both countries.

In Syria, the jihadists are largely confined to the pocket in Deir Ezzor, but they also have a presence in the vast Badia desert that stretches across the country to the Iraqi border.

Since 2014, the US-led coalition has acknowledged direct responsibility for over 1,100 civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq, but rights groups put the number much higher.

Syria's war has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Counter-attacks by the Islamic State group have killed at least 47 US-backed fighters over two days as the jihadists struck from their embattled holdout in eastern Syria, a war monitor said Saturday.

Counter-attacks by the Islamic State group have killed at least 47 US-backed fighters over two days as the jihadists struck from their embattled holdout in eastern Syria, a war monitor said Saturday. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Kurdish-led alliance supported by a US-led coalition is battling to expel the jihadists from a pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on the Iraqi border. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the jihadists launched "three separate assaults" on Saturday. The monitor said the counter-attacks targeted the villages of Al-Bahra and Gharanij and an area close to the Al-Tanak oilfield, which is commercially active but is also an SDF military position. SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali confirmed "a series of attacks" led by IS in these three locations and said fighting had taken place all day, with the Kurdish-led ground forces receiving coalition air support. The fighting on Saturday alone killed 29 SDF fighters, taking its total losses over the last two days to at least 47, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Thirty-nine IS jihadists have been killed -- some in the ground clashes, others in air strikes -- over the same period, the Observatory said. 'A broad attack' IS confirmed in a statement on Telegram that it had launched attacks near Al-Bahra and Gharanij. Earlier, the Observatory said IS had broken out of its holdout on Friday to attack Al-Bahra, where SDF fighters and coalition advisers are based. "IS launched a broad attack on the village of Al-Bahra next to its holdout, taking advantage of the fog," Abdel Rahman said. The monitor said coalition raids have also killed 17 civilians, including five children, in the IS-held pocket since Friday. Coalition spokesman Sean Ryan said he had not received any reports of civilian casualties, and insisted air strikes had been "very limited due to the weather". Deir Ezzor activist Omar Abu Leila said the attack on Al-Bahra was "very scary" and that IS fighters were able to move quickly "taking advantage of the fog". 'Probable chlorine attack' Meanwhile, Syrian regime shelling killed nine civilians including seven children Saturday in a planned buffer zone around the country's last major rebel bastion, the Observatory said. A teacher and four schoolchildren were among the victims after the shelling hit near a school in the northwestern province of Idlib, said Abdel Rahman. Later in the evening, in neighbouring Aleppo which is under Syrian regime control, official media accused the rebels of launching an attack with "toxic gas". Regional head of health services, Ziad Hajj Taha, said it was a "probable" chlorine attack. It is not the first time such accusations have been levelled against the rebels in Aleppo. On other occasions the Syrian regime has been accused of using chemical weapons against rebel strongholds, which it has always denied. The anti-IS alliance has repeatedly denied previous reports of civilians killed in its air strikes, and said it does its utmost to avoid hitting non-combatants. IS overran large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" in land it controlled but has lost most of it to offensives by multiple forces in both countries. In Syria, the jihadists are largely confined to the pocket in Deir Ezzor, but they also have a presence in the vast Badia desert that stretches across the country to the Iraqi border. Since 2014, the US-led coalition has acknowledged direct responsibility for over 1,100 civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq, but rights groups put the number much higher. Syria's war has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

IS counter-attacks kill 47 US-backed fighters in east Syria: Monitor

A total of 260,000 Syrian nationals have returned to a swathe of land in northern Syria where Turkey carried out a cross-border operation dubbed "Euphrates Shield", Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.

Turkey launched Euphrates Shield in 2016 to drive away Islamic State militants and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from its border with Syria. Ankara regards the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organisation. The operation ended in 2017.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees who fled the conflict in their homeland. Some Turks view them as an economic burden and a threat to jobs.

"As a result of the infrastructure work and security and stability in the region provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, around 260,000 Syrian nationals have returned to the Euphrates Shield Operation area," Akar said in a speech.

Akar also said Turkey's operations in northern Iraq would continue until what he described as the terrorist threat to Turkish territory had ended. He was speaking after a week of airstrikes in the area that have targeted the bases of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

On Tuesday the Turkish military killed seven Kurdish militants in airstrikes in northern Iraq as they were preparing to launch an attack on regions were Turkish bases are located, it said in a statement on Twitter.

A total of 260,000 Syrian nationals have returned to a swathe of land in northern Syria where Turkey carried out a cross-border operation dubbed "Euphrates Shield", Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.

A total of 260,000 Syrian nationals have returned to a swathe of land in northern Syria where Turkey carried out a cross-border operation dubbed "Euphrates Shield", Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday. Turkey launched Euphrates Shield in 2016 to drive away Islamic State militants and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from its border with Syria. Ankara regards the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organisation. The operation ended in 2017. Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees who fled the conflict in their homeland. Some Turks view them as an economic burden and a threat to jobs. "As a result of the infrastructure work and security and stability in the region provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, around 260,000 Syrian nationals have returned to the Euphrates Shield Operation area," Akar said in a speech. Akar also said Turkey's operations in northern Iraq would continue until what he described as the terrorist threat to Turkish territory had ended. He was speaking after a week of airstrikes in the area that have targeted the bases of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants. On Tuesday the Turkish military killed seven Kurdish militants in airstrikes in northern Iraq as they were preparing to launch an attack on regions were Turkish bases are located, it said in a statement on Twitter.

Turkey says 260,000 Syrians have returned to 'Euphrates Shield' operation area

Syria reopened a wing of the capital's famed antiquities museum on Sunday after six years of closure to protect its exhibits and visitors from rebel rocket fire in the civil war.

Officials swung open the large wooden door of the building in central Damascus for the first time since 2012.

On display were "some of the artefacts that used to be exhibited at the National Museum dating from the most historic periods, from prehistory to the Islamic era", antiquities official Ahmad Deeb said.

Authorities were working "to prepare the whole museum in the coming period" to be reopened, he said.

The Damascus museum, founded in 1920, was closed one year into the civil war as the then national head of antiquities took action to protect its artefacts from rebel rocket fire or shelling.

Its gardens, however, remained open to the public, even as rockets intermittently hit Damascus from the rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, northeast of the capital.

Syria is home to more than 700 archeological sites, many of which have been destroyed, damaged or looted since the start of the war.

All warring sides have been accused of looting artifacts during the conflict, from both major archeological sites and the country's museums.

The most famous include the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO-listed heritage site overrun by the Islamic State group until the Russia-backed army retook it last year.

From 2012 onwards, the museums authority stored some 300,000 items and thousands of manuscripts from around the country at secret locations protected from fires, shelling and floods.

More than seven years into the conflict, President Bashar Assad's regime has secured the capital, after expelling rebels and jihadists from its outskirts earlier this year with Russian military support.

Assad's forces are now in control of around two-thirds of the country.

More than 360,000 people have been killed since the war started in March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Syria reopened a wing of the capital's famed antiquities museum on Sunday after six years of closure to protect its exhibits and visitors from rebel rocket fire in the civil war.

Syria reopened a wing of the capital's famed antiquities museum on Sunday after six years of closure to protect its exhibits and visitors from rebel rocket fire in the civil war. Officials swung open the large wooden door of the building in central Damascus for the first time since 2012. On display were "some of the artefacts that used to be exhibited at the National Museum dating from the most historic periods, from prehistory to the Islamic era", antiquities official Ahmad Deeb said. Authorities were working "to prepare the whole museum in the coming period" to be reopened, he said. The Damascus museum, founded in 1920, was closed one year into the civil war as the then national head of antiquities took action to protect its artefacts from rebel rocket fire or shelling. Its gardens, however, remained open to the public, even as rockets intermittently hit Damascus from the rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, northeast of the capital. Syria is home to more than 700 archeological sites, many of which have been destroyed, damaged or looted since the start of the war. All warring sides have been accused of looting artifacts during the conflict, from both major archeological sites and the country's museums. The most famous include the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO-listed heritage site overrun by the Islamic State group until the Russia-backed army retook it last year. From 2012 onwards, the museums authority stored some 300,000 items and thousands of manuscripts from around the country at secret locations protected from fires, shelling and floods. More than seven years into the conflict, President Bashar Assad's regime has secured the capital, after expelling rebels and jihadists from its outskirts earlier this year with Russian military support. Assad's forces are now in control of around two-thirds of the country. More than 360,000 people have been killed since the war started in March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Syria reopens Damascus antiquities museum

By Mustafa Demir 
 
Turkey, Russia and Iran have actively involved themselves in the Syrian conflict, each with their own divergent interests. Moscow and Tehran have put their support behind the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, hoping it retains its influence over the strategic Syrian region. Meanwhile, since the very beginning of the crisis in 2011, Turkey has been obsessed with removing Assad.

So far, the three countries have managed to accommodate their various aims. And the meetings between the three powers in 2017 and 2018 – in Sochi, Astana, Tehran and then again in Sochi – have all played a part in this. In fact, it appears that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s main strategy since 2017 has been the continuation of this accommodation.

On September 17, for example, Putin and his Turkish counterpart, president Erdogan, met in Sochi to discuss Syria’s rebel-controlled Idlib province. Interestingly, at that meeting, Putin renounced his plan (announced in Tehran on September 7) to stage an all-out assault on Idlib. This was an apparent concession, as Turkey had opposed the plan at the Tehran summit and had called for a ceasefire instead. Back then, Putin had ignored Turkey’s objections and underlined his view that the elimination of terrorists in the region was the priority. Consequently, his latest concession looks like a significant volte-face.

At their 2017 Astana summit, Russia, Iran and Turkey had all declared four regions – Idlib province, eastern Ghouta, northern rural Homs, and southern Syria (to include Quneitra and parts of Daraa governorate) – as de-escalation zones. But the Syrian regime, with the cooperation of Russia and Iran, subsequently launched offensives into some of these regions on the pretext of eliminating terrorist groups. One by one, the regions set up as de-escalation zones have been devastated.

Amberin Zaman, a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse, argues that a full-scale assault in Idlib would result in the Erdogan government losing its sway over the rebels in the area and make Turkey a potential target for more radical jihadists. According to some sources, for example, nearly 60 per cent of Idlib is controlled by the HTS, a radical jihadist group designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations.

Moreover, an invasion such as that tabled by Russia would likely cause another massive influx of refugees from Idlib into neighbouring countries – especially Turkey – and from there on into Europe. Russia’s bullish stance on Idlib has therefore also been condemned by the Western members of the UN Security Council.

Putin’s game plan

The question is whether these criticisms were behind Putin scrapping his decision to invade or whether he has another motive.

At their September summit, Putin and Erdogan agreed there should be a demilitarised buffer zone established in Idlib by October 15, separating the rebels from Assad’s government forces. Erdogan said, " The opposition will remain where they are, but the [radical] groups that we will determine jointly with Russia won’t be allowed to operate. The boundaries of the demilitarised zone will be supervised jointly."

Nevertheless, one thing is clear – while Turkey has managed temporarily to stall an invasion of Idlib, Russia will be keeping a close eye on the situation. The deal requires those designated “radical” rebels to withdraw from the demilitarised zone – and if they don’t, Russia and Assad will have a pretext to return to their original plan.

Doubtless, Russia will also incrementally apply pressure on Erdogan, at least tactically, by making Turkey responsible for removing the “radical” jihadist groups from Idlib. This would make Turkey more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and a vulnerable Turkey would need further help from Russia, as the new hegemon of the region.

It is clear, therefore, that Putin’s strategy is not merely to support his main ally, the Assad regime, in Syria. It is also to use the conflict to break the influence of the Western alliance in the region and tie NATO member Turkey more closely to Moscow. It seems that Russia has never abandoned its Cold War strategy to invest in growing tensions between NATO allies.

Indeed, Cengiz Çandar, a veteran Turkish journalist and author, theorises that Putin is prioritising this dismembering of the Western alliance over supporting the Syrian regime, its traditional ally. In this context, the recent Sochi summit can be seen as Putin’s way of bringing Erdogan closer to Russia. This, it seems, is Putin’s “grand strategy”.

Breaking NATO 
 
Although Turkish interests in Syria appear to conform with those of the West and NATO, this growing asymmetric dependence on Russia is forcing Erdogan to make concessions to Russia at many levels, from security to the economy. Turkey’s recent move to purchase S400 air defence missiles from Russia is one example of many. In fact, the trajectory of this asymmetric dependency is raising the question of whether Turkey is becoming a Russian proxy. A Russian proxy which is also a NATO member would be the very thing Russia wants in order to gain further leverage in its global contest with the US and NATO.

From NATO’s perspective, the political rapprochement between Russia and Turkey has so far been seen as tactical. But the conversion of this rapprochement into a growing asymmetric interdependence that favours Russia is casting doubt on Turkey’s already fragile commitment to the Western alliance. And, as Turkey gets ever more sucked into the Syrian conflict, so it becomes harder for Erdogan to disengage from Putin. With the Syrian conflict right on its borders, and Russia and Iran increasingly shaping the region’s politics, Turkey is becoming beholden to NATO’s enemies.

The situation suggests that to achieve security within its borders Turkey may be asked to resign itself to the desires of these two powers – two powers that would do anything to weaken the West and NATO. 
&nbsp;

(Mustafa Demir&nbsp;Associate Lecturer in International Relations, Staffordshire University)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/russias-grand-strategy-how-putin-is-using-syria-conflict-to-turn-turkey-into-moscows-proxy-104699">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

By Mustafa Demir Turkey, Russia and Iran have actively involved themselves in the Syrian conflict, each with their own divergent interests. Moscow and Tehran have put their support behind the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, hoping it retains its influence over the strategic Syrian region.

By Mustafa Demir Turkey, Russia and Iran have actively involved themselves in the Syrian conflict, each with their own divergent interests. Moscow and Tehran have put their support behind the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, hoping it retains its influence over the strategic Syrian region. Meanwhile, since the very beginning of the crisis in 2011, Turkey has been obsessed with removing Assad. So far, the three countries have managed to accommodate their various aims. And the meetings between the three powers in 2017 and 2018 – in Sochi, Astana, Tehran and then again in Sochi – have all played a part in this. In fact, it appears that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s main strategy since 2017 has been the continuation of this accommodation. On September 17, for example, Putin and his Turkish counterpart, president Erdogan, met in Sochi to discuss Syria’s rebel-controlled Idlib province. Interestingly, at that meeting, Putin renounced his plan (announced in Tehran on September 7) to stage an all-out assault on Idlib. This was an apparent concession, as Turkey had opposed the plan at the Tehran summit and had called for a ceasefire instead. Back then, Putin had ignored Turkey’s objections and underlined his view that the elimination of terrorists in the region was the priority. Consequently, his latest concession looks like a significant volte-face. At their 2017 Astana summit, Russia, Iran and Turkey had all declared four regions – Idlib province, eastern Ghouta, northern rural Homs, and southern Syria (to include Quneitra and parts of Daraa governorate) – as de-escalation zones. But the Syrian regime, with the cooperation of Russia and Iran, subsequently launched offensives into some of these regions on the pretext of eliminating terrorist groups. One by one, the regions set up as de-escalation zones have been devastated. Amberin Zaman, a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse, argues that a full-scale assault in Idlib would result in the Erdogan government losing its sway over the rebels in the area and make Turkey a potential target for more radical jihadists. According to some sources, for example, nearly 60 per cent of Idlib is controlled by the HTS, a radical jihadist group designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations. Moreover, an invasion such as that tabled by Russia would likely cause another massive influx of refugees from Idlib into neighbouring countries – especially Turkey – and from there on into Europe. Russia’s bullish stance on Idlib has therefore also been condemned by the Western members of the UN Security Council. Putin’s game plan The question is whether these criticisms were behind Putin scrapping his decision to invade or whether he has another motive. At their September summit, Putin and Erdogan agreed there should be a demilitarised buffer zone established in Idlib by October 15, separating the rebels from Assad’s government forces. Erdogan said, " The opposition will remain where they are, but the [radical] groups that we will determine jointly with Russia won’t be allowed to operate. The boundaries of the demilitarised zone will be supervised jointly." Nevertheless, one thing is clear – while Turkey has managed temporarily to stall an invasion of Idlib, Russia will be keeping a close eye on the situation. The deal requires those designated “radical” rebels to withdraw from the demilitarised zone – and if they don’t, Russia and Assad will have a pretext to return to their original plan. Doubtless, Russia will also incrementally apply pressure on Erdogan, at least tactically, by making Turkey responsible for removing the “radical” jihadist groups from Idlib. This would make Turkey more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and a vulnerable Turkey would need further help from Russia, as the new hegemon of the region. It is clear, therefore, that Putin’s strategy is not merely to support his main ally, the Assad regime, in Syria. It is also to use the conflict to break the influence of the Western alliance in the region and tie NATO member Turkey more closely to Moscow. It seems that Russia has never abandoned its Cold War strategy to invest in growing tensions between NATO allies. Indeed, Cengiz Çandar, a veteran Turkish journalist and author, theorises that Putin is prioritising this dismembering of the Western alliance over supporting the Syrian regime, its traditional ally. In this context, the recent Sochi summit can be seen as Putin’s way of bringing Erdogan closer to Russia. This, it seems, is Putin’s “grand strategy”. Breaking NATO Although Turkish interests in Syria appear to conform with those of the West and NATO, this growing asymmetric dependence on Russia is forcing Erdogan to make concessions to Russia at many levels, from security to the economy. Turkey’s recent move to purchase S400 air defence missiles from Russia is one example of many. In fact, the trajectory of this asymmetric dependency is raising the question of whether Turkey is becoming a Russian proxy. A Russian proxy which is also a NATO member would be the very thing Russia wants in order to gain further leverage in its global contest with the US and NATO. From NATO’s perspective, the political rapprochement between Russia and Turkey has so far been seen as tactical. But the conversion of this rapprochement into a growing asymmetric interdependence that favours Russia is casting doubt on Turkey’s already fragile commitment to the Western alliance. And, as Turkey gets ever more sucked into the Syrian conflict, so it becomes harder for Erdogan to disengage from Putin. With the Syrian conflict right on its borders, and Russia and Iran increasingly shaping the region’s politics, Turkey is becoming beholden to NATO’s enemies. The situation suggests that to achieve security within its borders Turkey may be asked to resign itself to the desires of these two powers – two powers that would do anything to weaken the West and NATO. (Mustafa Demir Associate Lecturer in International Relations, Staffordshire University) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Putin is using Syria conflict to turn Turkey into Moscow’s proxy

By Giorgio Cafiero 
 
On October 1, Iran carried out six missile strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Abu Kamal, situated in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border. Iran’s state-owned television showed one missile carrying slogans “Death to America,” “Death to Israel” and “Death to al Saud.” The bold move was officially a retaliation for the deadly attack in Ahvaz, in the Iranian Province of Khuzestan, nine days earlier, which the Iranian leadership blames on IS.&nbsp;

In addition to killing “many terrorists” in Abu Kamal, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed, the missiles also eviscerated stockpiles of the Islamic State’s ammunition and infrastructure. By firing missiles over Iraq into Syria, the Iranians delivered a powerful message to Washington at a time when the Trump administration ratchets up its aggression against the Islamic Republic.

Put simply, the message is that five months after the US withdrew from the Joint Plan of Comprehensive Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran will not change its regional conduct or cave in to pressure from the United States, Israel and certain Arab Gulf states. When it comes to Syria, Iran is set to remain in the country despite the White House’s stated goal to cause a retreat of Iranian forces and proxies. As Tehran begins conducting a more muscular and “offensive” approach in the region following America’s JCPOA decision, hardline elements within the Iranian regime — chiefly within the IRGC, which carried out the October 1 missile strikes — are being empowered.

Also, the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) October 3 ruling ordered Washington to ensure that its anti-Iran sanctions do not harm humanitarian assistance or civil aviation security. This left officials in Tehran more determined to stay their rigid course even if the ICJ lacks the teeth to enforce the ruling against the United States, which was rejected by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Other recent instances of Tehran acting confidently against perceived security menaces and asserting a stronger regional clout came on September 8 when Iran killed at least 11 people in long-range missile attacks on the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan’s headquarters in Koya, Iraq, which belongs to the Kurdistan Regional Government. During the previous month, Iranian officials stated that over the previous several months, Iran’s military had transferred several dozen short-range ballistic missiles to Tehran-sponsored Shia militias in Iraq to deter attacks against Iran’s homeland. Depending on from where in Iraq they are placed, these missiles (Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar) can reach both the Saudi and Israeli capitals.

Pressures within Iran

Such acts, along with the Iranian intelligence ministry’s alleged role in the foiled plot to attack a gathering by the militant Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e Khalq in France in June, illustrate how hardliners within the Islamic Republic are demonstrating more will to operate with greater autonomy from the central government, without obtaining permission before acting in the region. As the Iranian economy continues to suffer many ills, from rising unemployment and inflation to excess liquidity, as Washington’s sanctions continue to hurt the country, President Hassan Rouhani appears to find himself in a difficult political situation. That the parliament has summoned Rouhani to provide answers to questions about the country’s economic crises, and with a number of voices calling for his impeachment, the extent to which his centrist government has failed to meet the average Iranian citizen’s expectations about the economic rewards that JCPOA was to bring is clearly highlighted.

As such pressures within Iran intensify, moderate elements within the government struggle to maintain relevance in the country’s political arena. With nationalist sentiments on the rise, moderates have been prompted to align, at least to some degree, with hardliners in support of Tehran’s assertive conduct across the region. For the Iranian leadership, given the Trump administration’s rhetoric and conduct that leave many Iranians fearing a US-orchestrated regime change plot, engaging the White House at this point would be humiliating, particularly given how anti-Iranian Trump’s foreign policy has been since he entered the Oval Office.

Now with the Trump administration calling on Iran to leave Syria, and with a number of Sunni Arab states appearing set on welcoming the regime of Bashar al-Assad back from the cold, the White House, along with its Arab Gulf allies, seems optimistic about plans to accept Assad staying in power for the long term, but only with his regime putting space between itself and Iran. IRGC leaders, however, have declared that Iranian forces will remain in Syria as long as the Damascus regime demands their presence. Given how much Assad owes Iran for his survival, it is difficult to imagine the Syrian regime being in any position to push out the Iranians, who currently wield unprecedented influence over the Baathist order in Damascus.

Further Away from Diplomacy 
 
That Iran’s missiles landed within three miles of US troops in Syria on October 1 shows how grave the risks are of intense friction originating in Washington and Tehran spiralling out of control in the Middle East. With US National Security Adviser John Bolton declaring on September 24 that the US military would remain in Syria “as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias,” the 2,000 US troops currently in the country face a likelier possibility of a direct confrontation with Iran’s roughly 10,000 IRGC forces in Syria.

Doubtless, Syria will remain a major point of contention between the US and Iran. Even when bilateral relations were at their warmest after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 while Barack Obama was in the White House, Washington and Tehran had serious conflicts of interest in Syria notwithstanding their mutual interest in defeating IS. The JCPOA resolved neither both sides’ opposing stakes in the Syrian crisis nor any other non-nuclear issue. Yet the nuclear deal afforded both the US and Iran the means to build on some degree of trust to work toward finding common ground on such regional issues such as Syria, along with Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan.

Without the JCPOA as a foundation, Washington and Tehran are set to address their conflicting interests in Syria on terms that move farther away from diplomatic strategies, raising serious risks of an American-Iranian war that could bring far more devastation and instability to the Middle East than the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 
 
(Giorgio Cafiero is the founder and CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a geopolitical risk consultancy based in Washington, DC)

(This article was originally published on Fair Observer. Read the <a href="https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/syria-iran-nuclear-deal-us-middle-east-politics-news-10891/">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

 
&nbsp;

By Giorgio Cafiero On October 1, Iran carried out six missile strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Abu Kamal, situated in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border.

By Giorgio Cafiero On October 1, Iran carried out six missile strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Abu Kamal, situated in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border. Iran’s state-owned television showed one missile carrying slogans “Death to America,” “Death to Israel” and “Death to al Saud.” The bold move was officially a retaliation for the deadly attack in Ahvaz, in the Iranian Province of Khuzestan, nine days earlier, which the Iranian leadership blames on IS. In addition to killing “many terrorists” in Abu Kamal, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed, the missiles also eviscerated stockpiles of the Islamic State’s ammunition and infrastructure. By firing missiles over Iraq into Syria, the Iranians delivered a powerful message to Washington at a time when the Trump administration ratchets up its aggression against the Islamic Republic. Put simply, the message is that five months after the US withdrew from the Joint Plan of Comprehensive Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran will not change its regional conduct or cave in to pressure from the United States, Israel and certain Arab Gulf states. When it comes to Syria, Iran is set to remain in the country despite the White House’s stated goal to cause a retreat of Iranian forces and proxies. As Tehran begins conducting a more muscular and “offensive” approach in the region following America’s JCPOA decision, hardline elements within the Iranian regime — chiefly within the IRGC, which carried out the October 1 missile strikes — are being empowered. Also, the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) October 3 ruling ordered Washington to ensure that its anti-Iran sanctions do not harm humanitarian assistance or civil aviation security. This left officials in Tehran more determined to stay their rigid course even if the ICJ lacks the teeth to enforce the ruling against the United States, which was rejected by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Other recent instances of Tehran acting confidently against perceived security menaces and asserting a stronger regional clout came on September 8 when Iran killed at least 11 people in long-range missile attacks on the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan’s headquarters in Koya, Iraq, which belongs to the Kurdistan Regional Government. During the previous month, Iranian officials stated that over the previous several months, Iran’s military had transferred several dozen short-range ballistic missiles to Tehran-sponsored Shia militias in Iraq to deter attacks against Iran’s homeland. Depending on from where in Iraq they are placed, these missiles (Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar) can reach both the Saudi and Israeli capitals. Pressures within Iran Such acts, along with the Iranian intelligence ministry’s alleged role in the foiled plot to attack a gathering by the militant Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e Khalq in France in June, illustrate how hardliners within the Islamic Republic are demonstrating more will to operate with greater autonomy from the central government, without obtaining permission before acting in the region. As the Iranian economy continues to suffer many ills, from rising unemployment and inflation to excess liquidity, as Washington’s sanctions continue to hurt the country, President Hassan Rouhani appears to find himself in a difficult political situation. That the parliament has summoned Rouhani to provide answers to questions about the country’s economic crises, and with a number of voices calling for his impeachment, the extent to which his centrist government has failed to meet the average Iranian citizen’s expectations about the economic rewards that JCPOA was to bring is clearly highlighted. As such pressures within Iran intensify, moderate elements within the government struggle to maintain relevance in the country’s political arena. With nationalist sentiments on the rise, moderates have been prompted to align, at least to some degree, with hardliners in support of Tehran’s assertive conduct across the region. For the Iranian leadership, given the Trump administration’s rhetoric and conduct that leave many Iranians fearing a US-orchestrated regime change plot, engaging the White House at this point would be humiliating, particularly given how anti-Iranian Trump’s foreign policy has been since he entered the Oval Office. Now with the Trump administration calling on Iran to leave Syria, and with a number of Sunni Arab states appearing set on welcoming the regime of Bashar al-Assad back from the cold, the White House, along with its Arab Gulf allies, seems optimistic about plans to accept Assad staying in power for the long term, but only with his regime putting space between itself and Iran. IRGC leaders, however, have declared that Iranian forces will remain in Syria as long as the Damascus regime demands their presence. Given how much Assad owes Iran for his survival, it is difficult to imagine the Syrian regime being in any position to push out the Iranians, who currently wield unprecedented influence over the Baathist order in Damascus. Further Away from Diplomacy That Iran’s missiles landed within three miles of US troops in Syria on October 1 shows how grave the risks are of intense friction originating in Washington and Tehran spiralling out of control in the Middle East. With US National Security Adviser John Bolton declaring on September 24 that the US military would remain in Syria “as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias,” the 2,000 US troops currently in the country face a likelier possibility of a direct confrontation with Iran’s roughly 10,000 IRGC forces in Syria. Doubtless, Syria will remain a major point of contention between the US and Iran. Even when bilateral relations were at their warmest after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 while Barack Obama was in the White House, Washington and Tehran had serious conflicts of interest in Syria notwithstanding their mutual interest in defeating IS. The JCPOA resolved neither both sides’ opposing stakes in the Syrian crisis nor any other non-nuclear issue. Yet the nuclear deal afforded both the US and Iran the means to build on some degree of trust to work toward finding common ground on such regional issues such as Syria, along with Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. Without the JCPOA as a foundation, Washington and Tehran are set to address their conflicting interests in Syria on terms that move farther away from diplomatic strategies, raising serious risks of an American-Iranian war that could bring far more devastation and instability to the Middle East than the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Giorgio Cafiero is the founder and CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a geopolitical risk consultancy based in Washington, DC) (This article was originally published on Fair Observer. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Iran delivers powerful message to US on Syria

Twenty-three fighters, including five Syrian regime troops and 18 other allied forces, were killed in Israeli strikes on several areas of Syria overnight, a monitor said on Thursday.

An officer was among the regime troops killed in the strikes and the casualties included foreigners, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Areas near Damascus and in the southwest of Syria were among the targets, the Observatory said.

The strikes "caused human losses in a number of the targeted areas", it said, adding the death toll was likely to rise.

Israel's army said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria.

The Russian defence ministry, whose country has forces in Syria supporting the regime, said 28 Israeli warplanes took part in the raids and around 70 missiles were fired.

Israel said it targeted Syrian positions after rocket fire towards its forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that it blamed on Iran.

A senior military pro-regime source in Syria confirmed the salvo of rockets, but insisted Israel fired first.

The strikes come after the Syrian army said on late Tuesday that it had intercepted two Israeli missiles, while the Observatory said eight Iranians were among 15 foreign pro-regime fighters killed in that attack.

Since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has repeatedly targeted positions of the Syrian army and Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah backing it inside the country.

Areas near Damascus and in the southwest of Syria were among the targets, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Twenty-three fighters, including five Syrian regime troops and 18 other allied forces, were killed in Israeli strikes on several areas of Syria overnight, a monitor said on Thursday. An officer was among the regime troops killed in the strikes and the casualties included foreigners, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Areas near Damascus and in the southwest of Syria were among the targets, the Observatory said. The strikes "caused human losses in a number of the targeted areas", it said, adding the death toll was likely to rise. Israel's army said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria. The Russian defence ministry, whose country has forces in Syria supporting the regime, said 28 Israeli warplanes took part in the raids and around 70 missiles were fired. Israel said it targeted Syrian positions after rocket fire towards its forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that it blamed on Iran. A senior military pro-regime source in Syria confirmed the salvo of rockets, but insisted Israel fired first. The strikes come after the Syrian army said on late Tuesday that it had intercepted two Israeli missiles, while the Observatory said eight Iranians were among 15 foreign pro-regime fighters killed in that attack. Since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has repeatedly targeted positions of the Syrian army and Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah backing it inside the country.

23 fighters dead in Israel strikes on Syria: Monitor

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Saturday urged Russia to help solve the Syria crisis as he set off for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations in Toronto.

The Syrian conflict has badly damaged already strained relations between the West and Russia, which backs President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States, France and Britain conducted missile strikes against Syrian targets this month after a suspected chemical weapons attack that Assad and Moscow deny carrying out.&nbsp

"We need constructive contributions from Russia to reach a peaceful solution," Maas told reporters before his flight, adding that this was equally true of the Ukraine conflict, which the G7 foreign ministers are also due to discuss.

Russia is not a member of the G7 and will not be taking part in the meeting.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been very critical of Russia`s involvement in both the Syrian and Ukraine conflicts and backs continued European Union sanctions against Moscow. But Maas hails from her junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, which has traditionally sought good ties with Russia.

Germany did not take part in the air strikes, but Merkel backed them as a "necessary and appropriate" action to warn Syria against further use of chemical weapons.

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the German armed forces would have been capable of taking part in the strikes but added: "We weren`t asked this time."

Since World War Two Germany has been reluctant to get involved in military missions abroad. Its limited engagements abroad have focussed mainly on training, surveillance, medical rescue and peacekeeping.

Syrian peace talks

Von der Leyen said the air strikes in Syria had reinvigorated peace initiatives, adding that it was crucial for the Syria peace talks in Geneva to get off the ground with all participants again.

She said it was necessary to negotiate with Assad`s government to achieve initial steps like a ceasefire and get humanitarian aid to suffering Syrians.

Von der Leyen, a member of Merkel`s conservatives, called for a tough stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying: "President Putin doesn`t value weakness. Chumming up to him or being soft doesn`t make him any friendlier."

She said it was important to insist that Russia keeps its commitments in the Minsk peace agreement before loosening sanctions imposed against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict.

But she also stressed that it was important to remain willing to talk to Russia.

Next week Maas is due to take part in an international conference on Syria in Brussels. He said humanitarian aid for people in Syria would be the main focus of that meeting.

"I will again affirm our support for the peace process under the aegis of the United Nations. We urgently need a political solution for this conflict that has gone on for far too long," Maas said.

On Monday Maas will fly to New York, where he will call for Germany to get a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Von der Leyen said Germany needed to increase its defence budget by several billion euros by 2021 or it would not be able to meet its international commitments.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Saturday urged Russia to help solve the Syria crisis as he set off for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations in Toronto

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Saturday urged Russia to help solve the Syria crisis as he set off for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations in Toronto. The Syrian conflict has badly damaged already strained relations between the West and Russia, which backs President Bashar al-Assad. The United States, France and Britain conducted missile strikes against Syrian targets this month after a suspected chemical weapons attack that Assad and Moscow deny carrying out. "We need constructive contributions from Russia to reach a peaceful solution," Maas told reporters before his flight, adding that this was equally true of the Ukraine conflict, which the G7 foreign ministers are also due to discuss. Russia is not a member of the G7 and will not be taking part in the meeting. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been very critical of Russia`s involvement in both the Syrian and Ukraine conflicts and backs continued European Union sanctions against Moscow. But Maas hails from her junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, which has traditionally sought good ties with Russia. Germany did not take part in the air strikes, but Merkel backed them as a "necessary and appropriate" action to warn Syria against further use of chemical weapons. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the German armed forces would have been capable of taking part in the strikes but added: "We weren`t asked this time." Since World War Two Germany has been reluctant to get involved in military missions abroad. Its limited engagements abroad have focussed mainly on training, surveillance, medical rescue and peacekeeping. Syrian peace talks Von der Leyen said the air strikes in Syria had reinvigorated peace initiatives, adding that it was crucial for the Syria peace talks in Geneva to get off the ground with all participants again. She said it was necessary to negotiate with Assad`s government to achieve initial steps like a ceasefire and get humanitarian aid to suffering Syrians. Von der Leyen, a member of Merkel`s conservatives, called for a tough stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying: "President Putin doesn`t value weakness. Chumming up to him or being soft doesn`t make him any friendlier." She said it was important to insist that Russia keeps its commitments in the Minsk peace agreement before loosening sanctions imposed against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. But she also stressed that it was important to remain willing to talk to Russia. Next week Maas is due to take part in an international conference on Syria in Brussels. He said humanitarian aid for people in Syria would be the main focus of that meeting. "I will again affirm our support for the peace process under the aegis of the United Nations. We urgently need a political solution for this conflict that has gone on for far too long," Maas said. On Monday Maas will fly to New York, where he will call for Germany to get a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Von der Leyen said Germany needed to increase its defence budget by several billion euros by 2021 or it would not be able to meet its international commitments.

German minister urges Russia to cooperate in solving Syria crisis

A delegation from Syria&#39;s rebel-held Eastern Ghouta was on Sunday considering a partial evacuation deal to halt a fierce government offensive, a negotiator and monitor told AFP.

The two main rebel groups in the region, which borders Damascus, have firmly and repeatedly denied negotiating with the Syrian regime.&nbsp;

But on Sunday, as the government&#39;s Russian-backed assault entered its fourth week, influential figures in one rebel-held town were considering a possible evacuation offer.&nbsp;

A committee from Hammuriyeh met with regime representatives on Saturday, a member of the committee told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.&nbsp;

&quot;The committee discussed a proposed reconciliation that would guarantee exit for those that want to leave, both civilians and rebels, from Hammuriyeh to other areas in Syria under rebel control,&quot; the delegation member said.&nbsp;

Civilians and fighters may be bussed to rebel-controlled parts of Daraa province in Syria&#39;s south, or to Idlib in the northwest, held by rebels and a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

&quot;The committee is meeting on Sunday to take a decision and inform the regime. If they do not agree, there would be a resumption of the military operation on Ghouta, including Hammuriyeh,&quot; the delegation member added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said negotiations for evacuations from multiple towns were ongoing Sunday.

&quot;A decision could be taken any moment for Hammuriyeh, Jisreen, and Saqba,&quot; said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.&nbsp;

In recent years, the regime has recaptured several areas around Damascus from rebels by pursuing fierce military offensives culminating in evacuation deals.&nbsp;

But Faylaq al-Rahman, the opposition faction that holds Hammuriyeh, denied it was engaging in talks.

&quot;There are no direct or indirect negotiations with the Russian enemy or its allies,&quot; said the group&#39;s spokesman Wael Alwan.

&quot;No one has been authorised to negotiate on behalf of Ghouta&#39;s revolutionaries, institutions, or the Free Syrian Army.

The two main rebel groups in the region, which borders Damascus, have firmly and repeatedly denied negotiating with the Syrian regime

A delegation from Syria's rebel-held Eastern Ghouta was on Sunday considering a partial evacuation deal to halt a fierce government offensive, a negotiator and monitor told AFP. The two main rebel groups in the region, which borders Damascus, have firmly and repeatedly denied negotiating with the Syrian regime. But on Sunday, as the government's Russian-backed assault entered its fourth week, influential figures in one rebel-held town were considering a possible evacuation offer. A committee from Hammuriyeh met with regime representatives on Saturday, a member of the committee told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The committee discussed a proposed reconciliation that would guarantee exit for those that want to leave, both civilians and rebels, from Hammuriyeh to other areas in Syria under rebel control," the delegation member said. Civilians and fighters may be bussed to rebel-controlled parts of Daraa province in Syria's south, or to Idlib in the northwest, held by rebels and a former Al-Qaeda affiliate. "The committee is meeting on Sunday to take a decision and inform the regime. If they do not agree, there would be a resumption of the military operation on Ghouta, including Hammuriyeh," the delegation member added. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said negotiations for evacuations from multiple towns were ongoing Sunday. "A decision could be taken any moment for Hammuriyeh, Jisreen, and Saqba," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. In recent years, the regime has recaptured several areas around Damascus from rebels by pursuing fierce military offensives culminating in evacuation deals. But Faylaq al-Rahman, the opposition faction that holds Hammuriyeh, denied it was engaging in talks. "There are no direct or indirect negotiations with the Russian enemy or its allies," said the group's spokesman Wael Alwan. "No one has been authorised to negotiate on behalf of Ghouta's revolutionaries, institutions, or the Free Syrian Army.

Delegation from Syria rebel enclave mulls evacuation deal

Russia will establish a humanitarian corridor and implement a five-hour daily truce in Syria&#39;s eastern Ghouta, it said on Monday, after a UN Security Council resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire across the entire country.

Over the past week Syria&#39;s army and its allies have subjected the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta near Damascus to one of the heaviest bombardments of the seven-year war, killing hundreds.

On Sunday health authorities there said several people had suffered symptoms consistent with chlorine gas exposure and on Monday rescue workers and a war monitor said seven small children were killed by air and artillery strikes in one town.

&quot;Eastern Ghouta cannot wait, it is high time to stop this hell on earth,&quot; UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling for implementation of the ceasefire.

Fighting has raged across Syria since Saturday&#39;s resolution, as Turkey presses its offensive against a Kurdish militia in Afrin, rival rebel groups fight each other in Idlib and a US-led coalition targets Islamic State in the east.

Russia&#39;s defence minister was cited by the RIA news agency as saying President Vladimir Putin had ordered a daily ceasefire in eastern Ghouta from 9am to 2pm each day and for the creation of a &quot;humanitarian corridor&quot; to allow civilians to leave.

Russia, along with Iran and Shi&#39;ite militias, is a major backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and it joined the war on his side in 2015, helping him claw back important areas.

The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, did not say whether the Syrian government or other allied forces had agreed to abide by the five-hour daily truce.

Mohamad Alloush, the political chief of one of eastern Ghouta&#39;s biggest rebel factions, said the Syrian army and its allies had launched &quot;a sweeping ground assault&quot; after the U.N. resolution, adding it was vital that the truce be implemented.

&quot;We hope for real, serious, practical action,&quot; he said.

Deaths

A picture issued by Civil Defence rescue workers, which Reuters could not independently verify, showed seven small bodies lying next to each other, wrapped in white and blue sheets, after air and artillery strikes on the town of Douma in eastern Ghouta.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said four of them were among a single family of nine killed by an air strike. The other three were among seven killed by shelling in the same town, it said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said allegations the Syrian government was responsible for any chemical attack, after reports of people suffering symptoms of chlorine gas poisoning, were aimed at sabotaging the truce.

The Syrian government has consistently denied using chemical weapons in the war, which will soon enter its eighth year having killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced half of Syria&#39;s pre-war population of about 23 million from their homes.

The bombardment of eastern Ghouta over the past week has been one of the heaviest of the war, killing at least 556 people in eight days, according to a toll compiled by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.

The intensity of the bombardment has diminished since the U.N. resolution, the Observatory said, but it added that 21 people had been killed in eastern Ghouta on Monday, including the seven small children in the photograph.

Rebel shelling has caused 36 deaths and a number of injuries in Damascus and nearby rural areas in the last four days, Zaher Hajjo, a government health official, told Reuters.

Speaking in Riyadh, deputy director general of the World Health Organisation, Peter Salama, said the WHO urgently needed to evacuate 750 medical cases from eastern Ghouta.

&quot;We also need sustained access for medical equipment and for medical drugs and commodities,&quot; he said, adding that some supplies had been &quot;systematically removed from convoys&quot;.

Relative lull

In eastern Ghouta, people were making use of a relative lull in the bombardment to find provisions, said Moayad Hafi, a rescue worker based there.

&quot;Civilians rushed from their shelters to get food and return quickly since the warplanes are still in the sky and can hit at any moment,&quot; he told Reuters in a voice message.

Lavrov said the ceasefire would not cover either the Ahrar al-Sham or the Jaish al-Islam factions, describing them as partners of the former al Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front.

The two major rebel factions in eastern Ghouta are Jaish al-Islam and Failaq al-Rahman. Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of jihadists including Nusra, also has a small presence there.

&quot;Partners of al-Nusra are not protected by the ceasefire regime. They are also subject to the legitimate actions of Syrian armed forces and all those who support the Syrian army,&quot; said Lavrov.

In Idlib, Ahrar al-Sham and Tahrir al-Sham have been battling each other in recent days, rather than working in partnership.

Syrian state television reported that army units had advanced against militants near Harasta in eastern Ghouta. State news agency SANA also reported that the army had stopped a car bomb being driven into Damascus.

The Nusra Front has consistently been excluded from ceasefires in Syria, and the opposition says the government has used this as an excuse to keep up its bombardments.

Russia did not say whether the Syrian government or other allied forces had agreed to abide by the five-hour daily truce

Russia will establish a humanitarian corridor and implement a five-hour daily truce in Syria's eastern Ghouta, it said on Monday, after a UN Security Council resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire across the entire country. Over the past week Syria's army and its allies have subjected the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta near Damascus to one of the heaviest bombardments of the seven-year war, killing hundreds. On Sunday health authorities there said several people had suffered symptoms consistent with chlorine gas exposure and on Monday rescue workers and a war monitor said seven small children were killed by air and artillery strikes in one town. "Eastern Ghouta cannot wait, it is high time to stop this hell on earth," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling for implementation of the ceasefire. Fighting has raged across Syria since Saturday's resolution, as Turkey presses its offensive against a Kurdish militia in Afrin, rival rebel groups fight each other in Idlib and a US-led coalition targets Islamic State in the east. Russia's defence minister was cited by the RIA news agency as saying President Vladimir Putin had ordered a daily ceasefire in eastern Ghouta from 9am to 2pm each day and for the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" to allow civilians to leave. Russia, along with Iran and Shi'ite militias, is a major backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and it joined the war on his side in 2015, helping him claw back important areas. The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, did not say whether the Syrian government or other allied forces had agreed to abide by the five-hour daily truce. Mohamad Alloush, the political chief of one of eastern Ghouta's biggest rebel factions, said the Syrian army and its allies had launched "a sweeping ground assault" after the U.N. resolution, adding it was vital that the truce be implemented. "We hope for real, serious, practical action," he said. Deaths A picture issued by Civil Defence rescue workers, which Reuters could not independently verify, showed seven small bodies lying next to each other, wrapped in white and blue sheets, after air and artillery strikes on the town of Douma in eastern Ghouta. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said four of them were among a single family of nine killed by an air strike. The other three were among seven killed by shelling in the same town, it said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said allegations the Syrian government was responsible for any chemical attack, after reports of people suffering symptoms of chlorine gas poisoning, were aimed at sabotaging the truce. The Syrian government has consistently denied using chemical weapons in the war, which will soon enter its eighth year having killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced half of Syria's pre-war population of about 23 million from their homes. The bombardment of eastern Ghouta over the past week has been one of the heaviest of the war, killing at least 556 people in eight days, according to a toll compiled by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor. The intensity of the bombardment has diminished since the U.N. resolution, the Observatory said, but it added that 21 people had been killed in eastern Ghouta on Monday, including the seven small children in the photograph. Rebel shelling has caused 36 deaths and a number of injuries in Damascus and nearby rural areas in the last four days, Zaher Hajjo, a government health official, told Reuters. Speaking in Riyadh, deputy director general of the World Health Organisation, Peter Salama, said the WHO urgently needed to evacuate 750 medical cases from eastern Ghouta. "We also need sustained access for medical equipment and for medical drugs and commodities," he said, adding that some supplies had been "systematically removed from convoys". Relative lull In eastern Ghouta, people were making use of a relative lull in the bombardment to find provisions, said Moayad Hafi, a rescue worker based there. "Civilians rushed from their shelters to get food and return quickly since the warplanes are still in the sky and can hit at any moment," he told Reuters in a voice message. Lavrov said the ceasefire would not cover either the Ahrar al-Sham or the Jaish al-Islam factions, describing them as partners of the former al Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front. The two major rebel factions in eastern Ghouta are Jaish al-Islam and Failaq al-Rahman. Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of jihadists including Nusra, also has a small presence there. "Partners of al-Nusra are not protected by the ceasefire regime. They are also subject to the legitimate actions of Syrian armed forces and all those who support the Syrian army," said Lavrov. In Idlib, Ahrar al-Sham and Tahrir al-Sham have been battling each other in recent days, rather than working in partnership. Syrian state television reported that army units had advanced against militants near Harasta in eastern Ghouta. State news agency SANA also reported that the army had stopped a car bomb being driven into Damascus. The Nusra Front has consistently been excluded from ceasefires in Syria, and the opposition says the government has used this as an excuse to keep up its bombardments.

Russia orders five-hour daily truce in Syria's eastern Ghouta

The UN Security Council will vote Friday at 1600 GMT on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations, diplomats said.

A slightly amended text was circulated to council members, but it was unclear whether Russia would support the measure.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told a council meeting on Thursday that there was &quot;no agreement&quot; on a truce and presented a new raft of amendments.

Negotiations on the draft have dragged on as hundreds of Syrians have died in a fierce government air campaign in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta.

Also&nbsp;read:<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/russia-blocks-un-resolution-on-ceasefire-in-syria-33759"> Russia blocks UN resolution on ceasefire in Syria</a>

Sweden and Kuwait presented the proposed measure on February 9.

The latest text softens language in a key provision to say that the council &quot;demands&quot; a ceasefire, instead of &quot;decides&quot;.

It also specifies that the ceasefire will not apply to &quot;individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated&quot; with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. A previous version simply mentioned the two terror groups.

More than 400 people have been killed in the five-day assault by the government on Eastern Ghouta, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said 400,000 Syrians are living in &quot;hell on earth.&quot; 
&nbsp;

The UN Security Council will vote at 1600 GMT on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations, diplomats said

The UN Security Council will vote Friday at 1600 GMT on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations, diplomats said. A slightly amended text was circulated to council members, but it was unclear whether Russia would support the measure. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told a council meeting on Thursday that there was "no agreement" on a truce and presented a new raft of amendments. Negotiations on the draft have dragged on as hundreds of Syrians have died in a fierce government air campaign in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta. Also read: Russia blocks UN resolution on ceasefire in Syria Sweden and Kuwait presented the proposed measure on February 9. The latest text softens language in a key provision to say that the council "demands" a ceasefire, instead of "decides". It also specifies that the ceasefire will not apply to "individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated" with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. A previous version simply mentioned the two terror groups. More than 400 people have been killed in the five-day assault by the government on Eastern Ghouta, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said 400,000 Syrians are living in "hell on earth."

UN Security Council to vote on Syria ceasefire today

Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire hit the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta for a sixth straight day Friday killing 32 civilians, as the world struggled to reach a deal to stop the carnage.

More than 450 civilians, including over 100 children, have been killed in nearly a week of bombardment that has been one of the seven-year Syrian conflict&#39;s bloodiest episodes -- and rescuers were searching for more bodies buried in the rubble.

The leaders of France and Germany urged Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose airforce is also striking Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, to back a 30-day truce at a UN Security Council vote.

The council delayed the crunch vote by over three hours to 1930 GMT, as negotiations went into high gear to avoid a veto from Syrian regime ally Moscow, which has been calling for &quot;guarantees&quot; that the ceasefire would be respected by rebel fighters.

Few of Eastern Ghouta&#39;s nearly 400,000 residents -- mostly living in a scattering of towns across the semi-rural area east of the capital -- ventured out on Friday.

An AFP correspondent in Douma, the enclave&#39;s main town, saw a handful of people stealthily crossing rubble-strewn streets to assess damage to their property or look for food and water.

He said rescuers carried a young boy wounded in the eye, blood trickling down his face, to one of the town&#39;s hospitals. &quot;Will I see again?,&quot; he asked a doctor.

Death has fallen from the sky relentlessly since government and allied forces intensified their bombardment on Sunday and rocket fire soon forced everybody to run for cover.

Exhausted and famished families cowered in cramped and damp basements, exchanging information on the latest casualties of the government&#39;s blitz.

Some of the only people braving the threat of more bombardment were medical staff in those hospitals still standing and rescuers sifting through the wreckage of levelled buildings.

Trapped bodies 
 
Fresh strikes on Friday, by the Syria regime and its Russian ally, killed at least 32 civilians, including six children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based war monitor, said the strikes targeted different areas of Eastern Ghouta.

The latest deaths brought to 462 the number of people killed -- including 103 children -- since the regime and Russia intensified their bombardment of the besieged area on February 18.&nbsp;

More than 2,000 people have been wounded.

Rebels have been firing back into the capital Damascus, where on Friday a hospital was hit, the official Syrian news agency SANA said.

Diplomats at the United Nations failed to clinch Russian approval late Thursday on a resolution calling for a 30-day truce to allow for humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.

They then announced that a vote would take place on Friday, but it was delayed twice amid staunch Russian resistance.

Negotiations were continuing to avoid a Russia veto of the text that would establish a truce to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron wrote to Putin to ask him to back the ceasefire.

The latest text softens language in a key provision to say that the council &quot;demands&quot; a ceasefire instead of &quot;decides&quot;.

It also specifies that the ceasefire will not apply to &quot;individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated&quot; with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. A previous version simply mentioned the two groups.

World leaders have expressed outrage at the plight of civilians in Eastern Ghouta, which UN chief Antonio Guterres called &quot;hell on earth&quot;, but have so far been powerless to halt the bloodshed.

&quot;The UN says it is concerned and calls for a ceasefire, France condemns, but they have given us nothing,&quot; said Abu Mustafa, one of the few civilians on the streets of Douma Friday morning.

&quot;Every day we have strikes, destruction. This would draw tears from a rock,&quot; said the 50-year-old, who was escorting a wounded person to hospital.

Toothless response

The enclave has been controlled by Islamist and jihadist groups since 2012.&nbsp;

The main rebel groups in Eastern Ghouta rejected in a statement released Friday any deal that would see them or other residents relocated.

&quot;We categorically reject any initiative providing for inhabitants to leave their homes and be transferred towards any other location,&quot; they said in a letter addressed to Guterres.

The area is completely surrounded by government-controlled territory and residents are unwilling or unable to flee the deadly siege.

The dire images of civilian victims bleeding to death in understaffed hospitals and the scope of the urban destruction have shocked the world and drawn comparisons with the devastating 2016 battle for Aleppo.

The aid community has voiced its frustration at being prevented from assisting civilians in Eastern Ghouta, which has been under government siege since 2013.

&quot;The blocking of this resolution is another failure to end human suffering in Syria, with the UN Security Council rendered impotent as this senseless war rages on,&quot; Thomas White, Syria director at the Norwegian Refugee Council told AFP.

Government forces have this month reinforced their deployment around the enclave in preparation for a ground offensive that White said would spark an even worse humanitarian crisis.

&quot;If aid agencies are unable to meet urgent needs now, how can we possibly be prepared to tackle what is yet to come,&quot; White said.

 
&nbsp;

Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire hit the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta for a sixth straight day Friday killing 32 civilians, as the world struggled to reach a deal to stop the carnage

Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire hit the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta for a sixth straight day Friday killing 32 civilians, as the world struggled to reach a deal to stop the carnage. More than 450 civilians, including over 100 children, have been killed in nearly a week of bombardment that has been one of the seven-year Syrian conflict's bloodiest episodes -- and rescuers were searching for more bodies buried in the rubble. The leaders of France and Germany urged Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose airforce is also striking Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, to back a 30-day truce at a UN Security Council vote. The council delayed the crunch vote by over three hours to 1930 GMT, as negotiations went into high gear to avoid a veto from Syrian regime ally Moscow, which has been calling for "guarantees" that the ceasefire would be respected by rebel fighters. Few of Eastern Ghouta's nearly 400,000 residents -- mostly living in a scattering of towns across the semi-rural area east of the capital -- ventured out on Friday. An AFP correspondent in Douma, the enclave's main town, saw a handful of people stealthily crossing rubble-strewn streets to assess damage to their property or look for food and water. He said rescuers carried a young boy wounded in the eye, blood trickling down his face, to one of the town's hospitals. "Will I see again?," he asked a doctor. Death has fallen from the sky relentlessly since government and allied forces intensified their bombardment on Sunday and rocket fire soon forced everybody to run for cover. Exhausted and famished families cowered in cramped and damp basements, exchanging information on the latest casualties of the government's blitz. Some of the only people braving the threat of more bombardment were medical staff in those hospitals still standing and rescuers sifting through the wreckage of levelled buildings. Trapped bodies Fresh strikes on Friday, by the Syria regime and its Russian ally, killed at least 32 civilians, including six children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based war monitor, said the strikes targeted different areas of Eastern Ghouta. The latest deaths brought to 462 the number of people killed -- including 103 children -- since the regime and Russia intensified their bombardment of the besieged area on February 18. More than 2,000 people have been wounded. Rebels have been firing back into the capital Damascus, where on Friday a hospital was hit, the official Syrian news agency SANA said. Diplomats at the United Nations failed to clinch Russian approval late Thursday on a resolution calling for a 30-day truce to allow for humanitarian aid and medical evacuations. They then announced that a vote would take place on Friday, but it was delayed twice amid staunch Russian resistance. Negotiations were continuing to avoid a Russia veto of the text that would establish a truce to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron wrote to Putin to ask him to back the ceasefire. The latest text softens language in a key provision to say that the council "demands" a ceasefire instead of "decides". It also specifies that the ceasefire will not apply to "individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated" with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. A previous version simply mentioned the two groups. World leaders have expressed outrage at the plight of civilians in Eastern Ghouta, which UN chief Antonio Guterres called "hell on earth", but have so far been powerless to halt the bloodshed. "The UN says it is concerned and calls for a ceasefire, France condemns, but they have given us nothing," said Abu Mustafa, one of the few civilians on the streets of Douma Friday morning. "Every day we have strikes, destruction. This would draw tears from a rock," said the 50-year-old, who was escorting a wounded person to hospital. Toothless response The enclave has been controlled by Islamist and jihadist groups since 2012. The main rebel groups in Eastern Ghouta rejected in a statement released Friday any deal that would see them or other residents relocated. "We categorically reject any initiative providing for inhabitants to leave their homes and be transferred towards any other location," they said in a letter addressed to Guterres. The area is completely surrounded by government-controlled territory and residents are unwilling or unable to flee the deadly siege. The dire images of civilian victims bleeding to death in understaffed hospitals and the scope of the urban destruction have shocked the world and drawn comparisons with the devastating 2016 battle for Aleppo. The aid community has voiced its frustration at being prevented from assisting civilians in Eastern Ghouta, which has been under government siege since 2013. "The blocking of this resolution is another failure to end human suffering in Syria, with the UN Security Council rendered impotent as this senseless war rages on," Thomas White, Syria director at the Norwegian Refugee Council told AFP. Government forces have this month reinforced their deployment around the enclave in preparation for a ground offensive that White said would spark an even worse humanitarian crisis. "If aid agencies are unable to meet urgent needs now, how can we possibly be prepared to tackle what is yet to come," White said.

Strikes pound Syria's Eastern Ghouta as world fumbles for response

The UN Security Council on Friday <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/un-security-council-to-vote-on-syria-ceasefire-today-33806">delayed to 19:30 GMT</a> a vote on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, diplomats said.

Negotiations were continuing to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/russia-blocks-un-resolution-on-ceasefire-in-syria-33759">avoid a Russia veto of the text </a>that would establish a truce to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

More than 400 civilians have been killed as Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire pound the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, in one of the seven-year conflict&#39;s bloodiest episodes.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote to Russia&#39;s Vladimir Putin on Friday urging him to back a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Syria, France&#39;s presidency said.

The letter, sent while Macron and Merkel were at an EU summit in Brussels, asked Russia to support the draft resolution calling for a 30-day truce in Syria, mainly to allow aid to reach besieged Eastern Ghouta and allow evacuations, said the presidency.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for an immediate ceasefire and aid deliveries in the rebel-held Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta.

Negotiations were continuing to avoid a Russia veto of the text that would establish a truce to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations

The UN Security Council on Friday delayed to 19:30 GMT a vote on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, diplomats said. Negotiations were continuing to avoid a Russia veto of the text that would establish a truce to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations. More than 400 civilians have been killed as Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire pound the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, in one of the seven-year conflict's bloodiest episodes. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Friday urging him to back a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Syria, France's presidency said. The letter, sent while Macron and Merkel were at an EU summit in Brussels, asked Russia to support the draft resolution calling for a 30-day truce in Syria, mainly to allow aid to reach besieged Eastern Ghouta and allow evacuations, said the presidency. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for an immediate ceasefire and aid deliveries in the rebel-held Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta.

UN vote on Syria ceasefire delayed to 19:30 GMT

Syrian and Russian air strikes on Tuesday slammed into the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave, leaving more than 100 civilians dead for the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/77-dead-in-syria-bombardment-of-rebel-enclave-33417">second straight day </a>and putting another hospital out of service.

In a major twist for Syria&#39;s complex seven-year war, Damascus also sent pro-regime fighters to the northern Afrin region, where they came under fire by Turkish forces attacking the Kurdish-controlled enclave.

On the outskirts of Damascus, air strikes, rockets and artillery fire have battered the Eastern Ghouta enclave in apparent preparation for a government ground assault.

At least 250 civilians have been killed since the escalation began on Sunday, among them dozens of children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Bombardment on Tuesday killed 106 civilians, including 19 children, the Britain-based war monitor said.

It was the second straight day that the civilian death toll topped 100, after 127 were killed Monday in Eastern Ghouta&#39;s bloodiest day in four years.

Strikes put a key hospital out of service on Tuesday, further limiting the little medical aid that besieged civilians could access.

&quot;The Arbin hospital was hit twice today and is now out of service,&quot; said Moussa Naffa, country director in Jordan for the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), which supported the clinic.

The Observatory blamed Russian warplanes, saying Moscow carried out its first strikes in three months on Eastern Ghouta.

The rebel-held region is nominally included in a &quot;de-escalation&quot; deal meant to tamp down violence, but President Bashar al-Assad is apparently preparing troops for an imminent ground assault to retake it.

The United States said it was &quot;deeply concerned&quot; about the escalating attacks on the enclave.

&quot;The cessation of violence must begin now,&quot; State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, criticising what she called the &quot;siege and starve tactics&quot; of the Assad regime.

Six hospitals hit 
 
Eastern Ghouta is home to more than 400,000 people living under crippling government siege, with little access to food or medical resources.

The United Nations said six hospitals had been hit in the region in the past 48 hours, in addition to the one in Arbin.

At least three were out of service and two were only partially functioning, said the UN&#39;s regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Panos Moumtzis.

&quot;It&#39;s beyond imagination what is happening in East Ghouta today,&quot; he said.

&quot;The untold suffering is intolerable and residents have no idea whether they will live or die. This nightmare in East Ghouta must end and must end now.&quot;

Hours before the Arbin hospital was bombed, a doctor there spoke of the casualties they had been treating.

&quot;February 19 was the one of the worst days that we&#39;ve ever had in the history of this crisis,&quot; Abu al-Yasar told AFP.

He described treating a one-year-old with blue skin and a faint pulse, rescued from under the rubble.

&quot;I opened his mouth to put in a breathing tube and I found it packed with dirt,&quot; said Abu al-Yasar.

He pulled out the dirt as fast as possible, put in the breathing tube and managed to save the baby.

&quot;This is just one story from among hundreds of wounded.&quot;

&#39;No words&#39;

The bloodshed prompted the UN children&#39;s agency UNICEF to issue a largely blank statement saying &quot;we no longer have the words to describe children&#39;s suffering.&quot;

Syria&#39;s main opposition group condemned the government onslaught as a &quot;bloodbath&quot; and a &quot;war crime&quot;, saying it may pull out of UN-backed peace talks in protest.

Eastern Ghouta is mostly held by two hardline rebel groups that often fire rockets and mortar rounds into residential neighbourhoods of east Damascus.

On Tuesday, at least nine people were killed and 49 wounded by rebel fire on the capital, state media reported.

Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government, said the bombing campaign &quot;comes ahead of a vast operation on Ghouta, which may start on the ground at any moment.&quot;

The army already waged a ferocious five-day air assault on Eastern Ghouta earlier this month that left around 250 civilians dead and hundreds wounded.

Turkey shells regime&nbsp; 
 
Syria&#39;s conflict erupted in 2011 with protests against Assad, but the ensuing war has carved the country into various zones of control among rebels, jihadists, the regime, and Kurds.

Turkey has been waging an air and ground offensive against the Kurdish People&#39;s Protection Units (YPG) militia in the Afrin enclave for the past month but on Tuesday the stakes were ratcheted up.

Hundreds of Syrian pro-government forces entered the region for the first time since 2012 to face off against Turkey alongside Kurdish forces that Ankara views as an offshoot of its own internal insurgency.

But they quickly came under shelling by Turkish forces, who said they had fired &quot;warning shots&quot; at the &quot;pro-regime terrorist groups&quot;.

In a statement, YPG spokesman Nuri Mahmud said the Kurdish forces had called on the Damascus government to help fend off Turkey&#39;s assault.

&quot;The Syrian government responded to the invitation, answered the call of duty and sent military units today, February 20, to take up positions on the borders, and participate in defending the territorial unity of Syria and its borders,&quot; the statement said.

The YPG has controlled Afrin since government forces withdrew from Kurdish-majority northern areas in 2012.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the operation&#39;s slow progress, saying rebel allies would lay siege to the town of Afrin &quot;in the coming days.&quot;

 
&nbsp;

At least 250 civilians have been killed since the escalation began on Sunday, among them dozens of children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Syrian and Russian air strikes on Tuesday slammed into the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave, leaving more than 100 civilians dead for the second straight day and putting another hospital out of service. In a major twist for Syria's complex seven-year war, Damascus also sent pro-regime fighters to the northern Afrin region, where they came under fire by Turkish forces attacking the Kurdish-controlled enclave. On the outskirts of Damascus, air strikes, rockets and artillery fire have battered the Eastern Ghouta enclave in apparent preparation for a government ground assault. At least 250 civilians have been killed since the escalation began on Sunday, among them dozens of children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Bombardment on Tuesday killed 106 civilians, including 19 children, the Britain-based war monitor said. It was the second straight day that the civilian death toll topped 100, after 127 were killed Monday in Eastern Ghouta's bloodiest day in four years. Strikes put a key hospital out of service on Tuesday, further limiting the little medical aid that besieged civilians could access. "The Arbin hospital was hit twice today and is now out of service," said Moussa Naffa, country director in Jordan for the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), which supported the clinic. The Observatory blamed Russian warplanes, saying Moscow carried out its first strikes in three months on Eastern Ghouta. The rebel-held region is nominally included in a "de-escalation" deal meant to tamp down violence, but President Bashar al-Assad is apparently preparing troops for an imminent ground assault to retake it. The United States said it was "deeply concerned" about the escalating attacks on the enclave. "The cessation of violence must begin now," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, criticising what she called the "siege and starve tactics" of the Assad regime. Six hospitals hit Eastern Ghouta is home to more than 400,000 people living under crippling government siege, with little access to food or medical resources. The United Nations said six hospitals had been hit in the region in the past 48 hours, in addition to the one in Arbin. At least three were out of service and two were only partially functioning, said the UN's regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Panos Moumtzis. "It's beyond imagination what is happening in East Ghouta today," he said. "The untold suffering is intolerable and residents have no idea whether they will live or die. This nightmare in East Ghouta must end and must end now." Hours before the Arbin hospital was bombed, a doctor there spoke of the casualties they had been treating. "February 19 was the one of the worst days that we've ever had in the history of this crisis," Abu al-Yasar told AFP. He described treating a one-year-old with blue skin and a faint pulse, rescued from under the rubble. "I opened his mouth to put in a breathing tube and I found it packed with dirt," said Abu al-Yasar. He pulled out the dirt as fast as possible, put in the breathing tube and managed to save the baby. "This is just one story from among hundreds of wounded." 'No words' The bloodshed prompted the UN children's agency UNICEF to issue a largely blank statement saying "we no longer have the words to describe children's suffering." Syria's main opposition group condemned the government onslaught as a "bloodbath" and a "war crime", saying it may pull out of UN-backed peace talks in protest. Eastern Ghouta is mostly held by two hardline rebel groups that often fire rockets and mortar rounds into residential neighbourhoods of east Damascus. On Tuesday, at least nine people were killed and 49 wounded by rebel fire on the capital, state media reported. Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government, said the bombing campaign "comes ahead of a vast operation on Ghouta, which may start on the ground at any moment." The army already waged a ferocious five-day air assault on Eastern Ghouta earlier this month that left around 250 civilians dead and hundreds wounded. Turkey shells regime Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 with protests against Assad, but the ensuing war has carved the country into various zones of control among rebels, jihadists, the regime, and Kurds. Turkey has been waging an air and ground offensive against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in the Afrin enclave for the past month but on Tuesday the stakes were ratcheted up. Hundreds of Syrian pro-government forces entered the region for the first time since 2012 to face off against Turkey alongside Kurdish forces that Ankara views as an offshoot of its own internal insurgency. But they quickly came under shelling by Turkish forces, who said they had fired "warning shots" at the "pro-regime terrorist groups". In a statement, YPG spokesman Nuri Mahmud said the Kurdish forces had called on the Damascus government to help fend off Turkey's assault. "The Syrian government responded to the invitation, answered the call of duty and sent military units today, February 20, to take up positions on the borders, and participate in defending the territorial unity of Syria and its borders," the statement said. The YPG has controlled Afrin since government forces withdrew from Kurdish-majority northern areas in 2012. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the operation's slow progress, saying rebel allies would lay siege to the town of Afrin "in the coming days."

Syria, Russia air strikes continue to pound rebel enclave, over 100 dead for second straight day

Lashing out at the police machinery for falsely implicating many Muslim youths on fabricated charges of terror, former Chief Justice of Delhi court on Friday said that there was an urgent need to compensate innocents implicated on false charges of terrorism by the government. He also advocated for punishment for those who fabricate evidence in order to prosecute many such Muslim youths in terror-related cases. &nbsp;

Justice Shah also appealed to media to stop calling people alleged of masterminding terrorist activities as &quot;terrorists&quot;, only to create sensationalism.&nbsp;

&ldquo;There must be a reward for the years lost and lives crushed. For equity to be believed to be done, those blameworthy of confining individuals must be made to endure the results,&quot; Shah, who had led the law commission as well, said at the arrival of the jury report of the principal open tribunal of vindicated innocents. 
&nbsp; 
The event at Delhi Press club was organized by Innocence&nbsp;Network, an organisation working for the rights and rehabilitation of people acquitted in cases of terrorism. A report was also released by the network regarding the Legislative framework for Compensation and Rehabilitation for Innocents acquitted in terror cases.

At the event, Justice Shah read out the recommendations of the jury after the release of the report. He pointed out that the issue of forced confessions extracted under duress, delay in granting bail, wrongful detention, malicious prosecution, and presenting fabricated evidence has become endemic to terror prosecution. Hence, the violence on those who have been accused of terror crimes is much more than ordinary crime, and hence legitimates corrective mechanisms by the state.

Mohammad Amir Khan, who remained behind bars for 14 long years before being acquitted of 19 charges of terror against him, talking to WION, said, &ldquo;I am hopeful that these recommendations pointed out in the report drafted under the supervision of a reputed seniors judge and former chairperson of law commission does not remain merely in the books, I hope people get to read this report and understand the plight of people who have suffered so much, our acquittal does not mean much unless we are compensated&quot;.&nbsp;

After&nbsp;struggling for&nbsp;five long years since he has been out of jail, Amir finally found a job with Delhi Waqf Board. But due to interventions by the lieutenant governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, his job could not remain intact and he lost his job.&nbsp;

The report also said, &quot;If found that the criminal prosecution against the acquitted persons was malafide...the officers named by the exonerees (those acquitted) should be prosecuted.&quot;&nbsp;

Manisha Sethi, an activist, and academician speaking at the event, said, &ldquo;It was important that a network like the Innocence Network exists to take up the issues of those who have been wrongfully prosecuted. The network called for a people&#39;s tribunal as it was necessary that such voices get heard. This is happening for the first time in the country, and all stakeholders including the government and the judiciary needs to be strong attention to the voice of those who have been violated.&rdquo;

Justice Shah also asserted on the need for judges to be more sensitive and said that every time a wrong person is prosecuted, the real culprit gets away.&nbsp;

(WION)

There was no immediate indication when the evacuation might take place but reports said it could be delayed until Thursday

Lashing out at the police machinery for falsely implicating many Muslim youths on fabricated charges of terror, former Chief Justice of Delhi court on Friday said that there was an urgent need to compensate innocents implicated on false charges of terrorism by the government. He also advocated for punishment for those who fabricate evidence in order to prosecute many such Muslim youths in terror-related cases. Justice Shah also appealed to media to stop calling people alleged of masterminding terrorist activities as "terrorists", only to create sensationalism. “There must be a reward for the years lost and lives crushed. For equity to be believed to be done, those blameworthy of confining individuals must be made to endure the results," Shah, who had led the law commission as well, said at the arrival of the jury report of the principal open tribunal of vindicated innocents. The event at Delhi Press club was organized by Innocence Network, an organisation working for the rights and rehabilitation of people acquitted in cases of terrorism. A report was also released by the network regarding the Legislative framework for Compensation and Rehabilitation for Innocents acquitted in terror cases. At the event, Justice Shah read out the recommendations of the jury after the release of the report. He pointed out that the issue of forced confessions extracted under duress, delay in granting bail, wrongful detention, malicious prosecution, and presenting fabricated evidence has become endemic to terror prosecution. Hence, the violence on those who have been accused of terror crimes is much more than ordinary crime, and hence legitimates corrective mechanisms by the state. Mohammad Amir Khan, who remained behind bars for 14 long years before being acquitted of 19 charges of terror against him, talking to WION, said, “I am hopeful that these recommendations pointed out in the report drafted under the supervision of a reputed seniors judge and former chairperson of law commission does not remain merely in the books, I hope people get to read this report and understand the plight of people who have suffered so much, our acquittal does not mean much unless we are compensated". After struggling for five long years since he has been out of jail, Amir finally found a job with Delhi Waqf Board. But due to interventions by the lieutenant governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, his job could not remain intact and he lost his job. The report also said, "If found that the criminal prosecution against the acquitted persons was malafide...the officers named by the exonerees (those acquitted) should be prosecuted." Manisha Sethi, an activist, and academician speaking at the event, said, “It was important that a network like the Innocence Network exists to take up the issues of those who have been wrongfully prosecuted. The network called for a people's tribunal as it was necessary that such voices get heard. This is happening for the first time in the country, and all stakeholders including the government and the judiciary needs to be strong attention to the voice of those who have been violated.” Justice Shah also asserted on the need for judges to be more sensitive and said that every time a wrong person is prosecuted, the real culprit gets away. (WION)

Airstrikes, shelling resume in Aleppo, UN warns of 'war crimes'

The Syrian government has &quot;re-established control over eastern Aleppo&quot; and all military operations have been ceased to allow civilians and rebel fighters to leave the city, the Russian ambassador to the UN said Tuesday.&nbsp;

An agreement was reached between the rebels and President Bashar al-Assad&#39;s government Tuesday to let the rebels leave, AFP reported.&nbsp;

&quot;In the process of that, the military operations stopped. &nbsp;There is no need for military operations because they are leaving,&quot; he said.

&quot;The bottom line is -- if everything is okay -- that means that the fighting around eastern Aleppo is over,&quot; Churkin said.&nbsp;

Several green and white buses arrived at the evacuation point of Ramouseh on Wednesday to start the evacuation process, Reuters reported.&nbsp;

Churkin said the rebels &quot;are currently going through agreed corridors, going in directions they have chosen themselves voluntarily including towards Idlib,&quot; the rebels stronghold.&nbsp;

&quot;According to the latest information that we received in the last hour, military actions in eastern Aleppo are over, so there is no issue of some cessation of hostilities or some special humanitarian operation,&quot; he said.

However, several AFP journalists in the government-held area of Aleppo were supposed to be evacuated, said evacuation process had not been started&nbsp;as of 2000 GMT.&nbsp;

US wants observers in Aleppo&nbsp;

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Russia and Iran to &quot;urgently allow the remaining civilians to escape the area&quot; and provide aid to those left in the city.&nbsp;

The UN secuirty council held an emergency meeting at the request of France and Britain following UN reports that at least 82 people, including 11 women and 13 children, were killed in four neighbourhoods as the fighting came to an end.&nbsp;

Churkin denied the report claiming Russian officials had investigated the allegations.&nbsp;

The Syrian government refused to let UN officials enter Aleppo and verify the report.&nbsp;

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said countries should send observers to &quot;oversee the safe evacuation of the people who wish to leave but who, justifiably fear that if they try, they will be shot in the street or carted off to one of Assad&#39;s gulags.&quot;

More than 300,000 people have been killed since March 2011 and over half of the population displaced.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Russia's envoy to the UN said the Syrian government 'has re-established control over eastern Aleppo'

The Syrian government has "re-established control over eastern Aleppo" and all military operations have been ceased to allow civilians and rebel fighters to leave the city, the Russian ambassador to the UN said Tuesday. An agreement was reached between the rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's government Tuesday to let the rebels leave, AFP reported. "In the process of that, the military operations stopped. There is no need for military operations because they are leaving," he said. "The bottom line is -- if everything is okay -- that means that the fighting around eastern Aleppo is over," Churkin said. Several green and white buses arrived at the evacuation point of Ramouseh on Wednesday to start the evacuation process, Reuters reported. Churkin said the rebels "are currently going through agreed corridors, going in directions they have chosen themselves voluntarily including towards Idlib," the rebels stronghold. "According to the latest information that we received in the last hour, military actions in eastern Aleppo are over, so there is no issue of some cessation of hostilities or some special humanitarian operation," he said. However, several AFP journalists in the government-held area of Aleppo were supposed to be evacuated, said evacuation process had not been started as of 2000 GMT. US wants observers in Aleppo UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Russia and Iran to "urgently allow the remaining civilians to escape the area" and provide aid to those left in the city. The UN secuirty council held an emergency meeting at the request of France and Britain following UN reports that at least 82 people, including 11 women and 13 children, were killed in four neighbourhoods as the fighting came to an end. Churkin denied the report claiming Russian officials had investigated the allegations. The Syrian government refused to let UN officials enter Aleppo and verify the report. US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said countries should send observers to "oversee the safe evacuation of the people who wish to leave but who, justifiably fear that if they try, they will be shot in the street or carted off to one of Assad's gulags." More than 300,000 people have been killed since March 2011 and over half of the population displaced. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Syria: Fighting in east Aleppo over as rebels reach deal with government to evacuate city

At least 141 civilians, including 18 children, were killed in a week of renewed bombardment on the rebel-held eastern Aleppo, Reuters reported based on a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Tuesday.

The Observatory documented 16 civilian deaths, including 10 children, and many injuries owing to rebel shelling of government-held west Aleppo.

The war monitor said it had documented hundreds of injuries as a result of Russian and Syrian air strikes and shelling by government forces and its allies on the eastern half of the city.

The assault began last Tuesday after a week-long pause in air strikes and shelling even as air strikes continued in the surrounding countryside.

The Birtain-based monitor said that there were another 87 deaths of rebel fighters and people of unknown identity in the eastern sector.

Air strikes and shelling of east Aleppo last week damaged all the main hospitals in the city&#39;s east, local health authority and international humanitarian agencies told Reuters. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

The assault began last Tuesday after a weeks-long pause in air strikes and shelling inside east Aleppo

At least 141 civilians, including 18 children, were killed in a week of renewed bombardment on the rebel-held eastern Aleppo, Reuters reported based on a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Tuesday. The Observatory documented 16 civilian deaths, including 10 children, and many injuries owing to rebel shelling of government-held west Aleppo. The war monitor said it had documented hundreds of injuries as a result of Russian and Syrian air strikes and shelling by government forces and its allies on the eastern half of the city. The assault began last Tuesday after a week-long pause in air strikes and shelling even as air strikes continued in the surrounding countryside. The Birtain-based monitor said that there were another 87 deaths of rebel fighters and people of unknown identity in the eastern sector. Air strikes and shelling of east Aleppo last week damaged all the main hospitals in the city's east, local health authority and international humanitarian agencies told Reuters. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

At least 141 killed in week of renewed strikes  in east Aleppo, 16 in west

At least 27 civilians were killed as the Syrian regime pounded the rebel-held side of eastern Aleppo with airstrikes, barrell bombs and artillery fire, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.&nbsp;

The deaths brought the civilian toll in the last five days of regime bombardment to at least 92, AFP reported.

Schools in east Aleppo announced in a statement they would close on Saturday and Sunday &quot;for the safety of students and teachers, after the barbarous aerial strikes&quot;.

&quot;People went to sleep to the sound of bombardment and awoke to the sound of bombardment,&quot; Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. &quot;There&#39;s barely a neighbourhood that has been spared in the east.&quot;

The renewed bombardment, which comes after weeks of ceasefire, has also damaged multiple hospitals and damaged rescue facilities.

On Friday, regime shelling of the Maadi neighbourhood partially destroyed one of the last hospitals in east Aleppo, forcing it to close. The last pediatric hospital in the east was also forced to close after being damaged in a barrel bomb attack earlier in the week.

Aleppo has been divided since mid-2012 between rebel control in the east and government control in the west. The rebels have been besieged by Russian-backed regime forces since the last four months.&nbsp;

UN, White House condemn bombings

The UN said it was &quot;appalled&quot; by escalating violence in Syria, and urged immediate access to Aleppo.&nbsp;

US National Security Advisor Susan Rice condemned &quot;heinous&quot; bombings of hospitals.

&quot;The United States condemns in the strongest terms these horrific attacks against medical infrastructure and humanitarian aid workers. There is no excuse for these heinous actions,&quot; Rice said in a statement.

&quot;The Syrian regime and its allies, Russia in particular, bears responsibly for the immediate and long term consequences these actions have caused in Syria and beyond.&quot;

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The deaths brought the civilian toll in five days of regime bombardment of eastern Aleppo to at least 92

At least 27 civilians were killed as the Syrian regime pounded the rebel-held side of eastern Aleppo with airstrikes, barrell bombs and artillery fire, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The deaths brought the civilian toll in the last five days of regime bombardment to at least 92, AFP reported. Schools in east Aleppo announced in a statement they would close on Saturday and Sunday "for the safety of students and teachers, after the barbarous aerial strikes". "People went to sleep to the sound of bombardment and awoke to the sound of bombardment," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. "There's barely a neighbourhood that has been spared in the east." The renewed bombardment, which comes after weeks of ceasefire, has also damaged multiple hospitals and damaged rescue facilities. On Friday, regime shelling of the Maadi neighbourhood partially destroyed one of the last hospitals in east Aleppo, forcing it to close. The last pediatric hospital in the east was also forced to close after being damaged in a barrel bomb attack earlier in the week. Aleppo has been divided since mid-2012 between rebel control in the east and government control in the west. The rebels have been besieged by Russian-backed regime forces since the last four months. UN, White House condemn bombings The UN said it was "appalled" by escalating violence in Syria, and urged immediate access to Aleppo. US National Security Advisor Susan Rice condemned "heinous" bombings of hospitals. "The United States condemns in the strongest terms these horrific attacks against medical infrastructure and humanitarian aid workers. There is no excuse for these heinous actions," Rice said in a statement. "The Syrian regime and its allies, Russia in particular, bears responsibly for the immediate and long term consequences these actions have caused in Syria and beyond." (WION with inputs from AFP)

Syria: At least 27 killed in air strikes in rebel-held Aleppo

Food production has dropped to an all-time low in Syria where civilians are struggling through their sixth winter in a war zone, UN agencies said on Tuesday.

Many farmers have had to abandon their land, unable to afford the soaring cost of seeds, fertilisers and tractor fuel, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme said.

Wheat output - vital for making flat loaves of bread, a staple of the Syrian diet - dropped from an average 3.4 million metric tonnes harvested before the war began in 2011 to 1.5 million this year, they said in a joint statement.

The area planted for cereals in the 2015-16 cropping season is the &quot;smallest ever&quot;, they added, citing field visits and surveys that also showed higher than average production of barley.

&quot;Food production in Syria has hit a record low due to fighting and insecurity but also weather conditions,&quot; World Food Programme spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told a news briefing in Geneva.

Food shortages are particularly worrying in east Aleppo, the rebel-held part of the city besieged by government forces where the UN says 250,000-275,000 civilians still live.

&quot;The last food rations provided by the UN have been given out (in east Aleppo). It is very hard to say how people will be coping there. Of course it is a very different situation in the capital where food is available at the markets and people can buy things,&quot; Luescher said.

Reuters reported last month that Syria&#39;s state grain buying agency Hoboob struck a deal to purchase one million tonnes of wheat from political ally Russia, covering the needs of government-controlled areas for a year.&nbsp;

Before the war, Syria was an exporter of livestock. &quot;Now herds and flocks have shrunk, there are 30 per cent fewer cattle, 40 per cent fewer sheep and goats and a staggering 60 per cent less poultry which of course is the most affordable source of animal protein,&quot; Luescher said.

More than 7 million people in Syria are classified as &quot;food insecure&quot;, meaning they are not always sure where their next meal is coming from, she added.

The World Food Programme is distributing rations to more than 4 million people in Syria each month. 
 
(Reuters)

Many farmers have had to abandon their land, unable to afford the soaring cost of seeds, fertilisers and tractor fuel

Food production has dropped to an all-time low in Syria where civilians are struggling through their sixth winter in a war zone, UN agencies said on Tuesday. Many farmers have had to abandon their land, unable to afford the soaring cost of seeds, fertilisers and tractor fuel, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme said. Wheat output - vital for making flat loaves of bread, a staple of the Syrian diet - dropped from an average 3.4 million metric tonnes harvested before the war began in 2011 to 1.5 million this year, they said in a joint statement. The area planted for cereals in the 2015-16 cropping season is the "smallest ever", they added, citing field visits and surveys that also showed higher than average production of barley. "Food production in Syria has hit a record low due to fighting and insecurity but also weather conditions," World Food Programme spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told a news briefing in Geneva. Food shortages are particularly worrying in east Aleppo, the rebel-held part of the city besieged by government forces where the UN says 250,000-275,000 civilians still live. "The last food rations provided by the UN have been given out (in east Aleppo). It is very hard to say how people will be coping there. Of course it is a very different situation in the capital where food is available at the markets and people can buy things," Luescher said. Reuters reported last month that Syria's state grain buying agency Hoboob struck a deal to purchase one million tonnes of wheat from political ally Russia, covering the needs of government-controlled areas for a year. Before the war, Syria was an exporter of livestock. "Now herds and flocks have shrunk, there are 30 per cent fewer cattle, 40 per cent fewer sheep and goats and a staggering 60 per cent less poultry which of course is the most affordable source of animal protein," Luescher said. More than 7 million people in Syria are classified as "food insecure", meaning they are not always sure where their next meal is coming from, she added. The World Food Programme is distributing rations to more than 4 million people in Syria each month. (Reuters)

Syria crisis: Food production hits all-time low, say UN agencies

The United Nations on Monday blamed all sides in Syria after renewed fighting and air strikes in the Syrian city of Aleppo prevented the medical evacuations and aid deliveries from reaching the war-ravaged city.&nbsp;

UN aid agencies had held days of negotiations to try to secure safe passage for the sick and wounded, but the effort came to a halt when fighting resumed after three days of truce.&nbsp;

&quot;It is deeply regrettable that no patients or accompanying family members could be moved,&quot; said Stephen O&#39;Brien, the UN&#39;s humanitarian aid coordinator. &quot;The evacuations were obstructed by various factors, including delays in receiving the necessary approvals from local authorities in eastern Aleppo,&quot; he said.

&quot;After three days of lull, parties to the conflict have still not agreed, military operations have resumed and violence is now escalating,&quot; said O&#39;Brien in a statement. &quot;The political and military paths are trumping basic humanity once again in Syria.&quot;

US secretary of state John too voiced concern to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov days after the Russian-called truce ended. &quot;They talked about the importance of the continued multilateral discussions in Geneva and how ... to get a meaningful cessation of hostilities and the delivery of humanitarian aid,&quot; state department spokesman John Kirby said.

Syria&#39;s main ally, Moscow had last week declared a humanitarian pause in the assault on eastern Aleppo, where more than 250,000 civilians have been trapped. But Russia had ruled out a renewal of the ceasefire and blamed rebel groups for blocking the medical evacuation.

The two leaders agreed that the negotiations in Geneva to search for ways to resolve the Aleppo crisis will continue. &nbsp;Lavrov told Kerry the United States must fulfil its obligation to separate moderate opposition groups from &quot;terrorists&quot; in Syria, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

During the phone call, Kerry had expressed concern about the renewal of air strikes and ground attacks in Aleppo by the Syrian government forces and their Russian supporters after a pause in the fighting for several days, Kirby said.

He also noted that humanitarian aid had still not made it through to people under siege in Aleppo, despite the pause in fighting.

No UN aid convoy has entered Aleppo since July 7 and food rations will run out by the end of October, UN chief Ban Ki-moon had warned last week.

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Despite a Russian-called truce last week, UN aid agencies failed to deliver aid and evacuate wounded as violence continued unabated

The United Nations on Monday blamed all sides in Syria after renewed fighting and air strikes in the Syrian city of Aleppo prevented the medical evacuations and aid deliveries from reaching the war-ravaged city. UN aid agencies had held days of negotiations to try to secure safe passage for the sick and wounded, but the effort came to a halt when fighting resumed after three days of truce. "It is deeply regrettable that no patients or accompanying family members could be moved," said Stephen O'Brien, the UN's humanitarian aid coordinator. "The evacuations were obstructed by various factors, including delays in receiving the necessary approvals from local authorities in eastern Aleppo," he said. "After three days of lull, parties to the conflict have still not agreed, military operations have resumed and violence is now escalating," said O'Brien in a statement. "The political and military paths are trumping basic humanity once again in Syria." US secretary of state John too voiced concern to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov days after the Russian-called truce ended. "They talked about the importance of the continued multilateral discussions in Geneva and how ... to get a meaningful cessation of hostilities and the delivery of humanitarian aid," state department spokesman John Kirby said. Syria's main ally, Moscow had last week declared a humanitarian pause in the assault on eastern Aleppo, where more than 250,000 civilians have been trapped. But Russia had ruled out a renewal of the ceasefire and blamed rebel groups for blocking the medical evacuation. The two leaders agreed that the negotiations in Geneva to search for ways to resolve the Aleppo crisis will continue. Lavrov told Kerry the United States must fulfil its obligation to separate moderate opposition groups from "terrorists" in Syria, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. During the phone call, Kerry had expressed concern about the renewal of air strikes and ground attacks in Aleppo by the Syrian government forces and their Russian supporters after a pause in the fighting for several days, Kirby said. He also noted that humanitarian aid had still not made it through to people under siege in Aleppo, despite the pause in fighting. No UN aid convoy has entered Aleppo since July 7 and food rations will run out by the end of October, UN chief Ban Ki-moon had warned last week. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Aleppo fighting intensifies as UN blames all sides for failure of Syria evacuation plan

Clashes and air strikes shook the Syrian city of Aleppo, a monitor said on Sunday, as heavy fighting resumed after the end of three-day truce declared by government ally Russia.

The unilateral truce ended without any evacuations by the UN, which had hoped to bring wounded civilians out of the rebel-held east and deliver aid after weeks of government bombardment and a three-month siege.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes overnight in several areas along the front line that divides the government-held west from the east.

The Britain-based monitor also reported the first air strikes since Moscow announced a temporary halt in the Syrian army&#39;s Russian-backed offensive to recapture the east of the city. It said at least three people were wounded in artillery fire on the east of the city, while rebels fired a barrage of rockets and mortar shells on the government-held neighbourhood of Hamdaniyeh.

By Sunday morning, the city was quiet, but it was unclear if there would be any renewal of the truce, which Moscow and Damascus said was intended to allow civilians and rebels to leave the east. The army had opened eight corridors from the east, but only a handful of civilians were reported to have crossed through a single passage, with the rest remaining deserted.

Russian officials and Syrian state media accused rebels of preventing people from leaving and using civilians as &quot;human shields&quot;. Nearly 500 people have been killed and more then 2,000 wounded since the Syrian army launched a September 22 operation to recapture eastern Aleppo.

UN evacuation plan fails&nbsp;

The United Nations had hoped to use the &quot;humanitarian pause&quot; to evacuate seriously wounded people and possibly deliver aid. But a UN official said on Saturday the requisite security guarantees had once again not been received.

&quot;You have various parties to the conflict and those with influence and they all have to be on the same page on this and they are not,&quot; said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian office. The UN had drawn up a four-day plan that was to start with two days of medical evacuations to west Aleppo, rebel-held Idlib province, and Turkey, and continue with more evacuations as well as aid deliveries.

No aid has entered Aleppo since July 7 and UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned food rations will run out by the end of the month.

The UN had asked Moscow to consider extending the pause until Monday evening, but there was no indication from Russia that it would.

Russia is a key ally of Syria&#39;s government and began a military intervention in support of President Bashar al-Assad last September. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview aired on Saturday that the intervention was meant to &quot;liberate&quot; Syria and keep Assad in power.

&quot;Either Assad is in Damascus, or Al-Nusra is,&quot; he said, referring to former Al-Qaeda affiliate the Fateh al-Sham Front. &quot;There is no third option here.&quot;

US slams regime&#39;s &#39;defiance&#39;&nbsp;

In the hours before the truce expired, the Observatory said both sides appeared to be reinforcing their positions in preparation for renewed clashes.

&quot;The regime and the rebels are both bolstering their forces, which raises fears of a massive military operation if the ceasefire fails,&quot; Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. Elsewhere at least two people were wounded on Sunday when a bomb strapped to a motorbike exploded in Hasakeh, the Observatory said.

The blast in a Kurdish-controlled district is one of a series to have hit the northeastern city, most of them claimed by the Islamic State group. More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

On Saturday, the White House condemned regime&#39;s &quot;defiance&quot; of international law after UN experts said the army was responsible for a chemical weapons attack in March 2015. It was the third chemical weapons attack the UN panel has attributed to government forces.

&quot;We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Assad regime&#39;s defiance of the longstanding global norm against chemical weapons use,&quot; said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price. 
 
(AFP)

The truce ended without any evacuations by the UN, which had hoped to take wounded civilians out of the rebel-held east

Clashes and air strikes shook the Syrian city of Aleppo, a monitor said on Sunday, as heavy fighting resumed after the end of three-day truce declared by government ally Russia. The unilateral truce ended without any evacuations by the UN, which had hoped to bring wounded civilians out of the rebel-held east and deliver aid after weeks of government bombardment and a three-month siege. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes overnight in several areas along the front line that divides the government-held west from the east. The Britain-based monitor also reported the first air strikes since Moscow announced a temporary halt in the Syrian army's Russian-backed offensive to recapture the east of the city. It said at least three people were wounded in artillery fire on the east of the city, while rebels fired a barrage of rockets and mortar shells on the government-held neighbourhood of Hamdaniyeh. By Sunday morning, the city was quiet, but it was unclear if there would be any renewal of the truce, which Moscow and Damascus said was intended to allow civilians and rebels to leave the east. The army had opened eight corridors from the east, but only a handful of civilians were reported to have crossed through a single passage, with the rest remaining deserted. Russian officials and Syrian state media accused rebels of preventing people from leaving and using civilians as "human shields". Nearly 500 people have been killed and more then 2,000 wounded since the Syrian army launched a September 22 operation to recapture eastern Aleppo. UN evacuation plan fails The United Nations had hoped to use the "humanitarian pause" to evacuate seriously wounded people and possibly deliver aid. But a UN official said on Saturday the requisite security guarantees had once again not been received. "You have various parties to the conflict and those with influence and they all have to be on the same page on this and they are not," said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian office. The UN had drawn up a four-day plan that was to start with two days of medical evacuations to west Aleppo, rebel-held Idlib province, and Turkey, and continue with more evacuations as well as aid deliveries. No aid has entered Aleppo since July 7 and UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned food rations will run out by the end of the month. The UN had asked Moscow to consider extending the pause until Monday evening, but there was no indication from Russia that it would. Russia is a key ally of Syria's government and began a military intervention in support of President Bashar al-Assad last September. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview aired on Saturday that the intervention was meant to "liberate" Syria and keep Assad in power. "Either Assad is in Damascus, or Al-Nusra is," he said, referring to former Al-Qaeda affiliate the Fateh al-Sham Front. "There is no third option here." US slams regime's 'defiance' In the hours before the truce expired, the Observatory said both sides appeared to be reinforcing their positions in preparation for renewed clashes. "The regime and the rebels are both bolstering their forces, which raises fears of a massive military operation if the ceasefire fails," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. Elsewhere at least two people were wounded on Sunday when a bomb strapped to a motorbike exploded in Hasakeh, the Observatory said. The blast in a Kurdish-controlled district is one of a series to have hit the northeastern city, most of them claimed by the Islamic State group. More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. On Saturday, the White House condemned regime's "defiance" of international law after UN experts said the army was responsible for a chemical weapons attack in March 2015. It was the third chemical weapons attack the UN panel has attributed to government forces. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Assad regime's defiance of the longstanding global norm against chemical weapons use," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price. (AFP)

Syria: Fighting shakes Aleppo as truce expires

Russia on Monday announced an eight-hour &quot;humanitarian&quot; ceasefire in Syria&#39;s rebel-held city Aleppo later this week, the AFP reported.

The ceasefire would run from 0800 to 1600 local time (0500 GMT to 1300 GMT) in the city, senior Russian military officer Sergei Rudskoi told the press in Moscow.

&quot;We have taken a decision not to waste time and to introduce &#39;humanitarian pauses&#39;, mainly for the free passage of civilians, evacuation of the sick and wounded and withdrawal of fighters,&quot; Rudskoi said. &quot;During this period the Russian air force and Syrian government troops will halt air strikes and firing from any other types of weapons.&quot;

The announcement came the same day that EU warned that the Russia-backed air-strikes in Aleppo could amount to war crimes.

&quot;Since the beginning of the offensive by the regime and its allies, notably Russia, the intensity and scale of the aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo is clearly disproportionate,&quot; EU foreign ministers said at a meet in Luxembourg.

&quot;The deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, schools and essential infrastructure, as well as the use of barrel bombs, cluster bombs, and chemical weapons, constitute a catastrophic escalation of the conflict... and may amount to war crimes,&quot; they said in a statement.

The United Nations and European Union welcomed the announcement but said the ceasefire was too short to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, AFP reported.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said that as per aid agencies, at least 12 hours were needed to evacuate civilians.

&quot;It can be a start... for sure it is a positive step,&quot; she said after the ministerial meeting in Luxembourg. &quot;The latest assessment from the aid agencies (however) is that 12 hours is needed so work is needed to find common ground.&quot;

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there was &quot;need for a longer pause in order to get the aid in,&quot; AFP reported.

The EU ministers said they would also press ahead with extending sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad&#39;s regime, but stopped short of threatening measures against Russia.

Air-strikes and clashes in Aleppo have increased as Russian-backed Syrian forces announced their assault on the rebel-held eastern part of the city on September 22. More than 430 people have been killed since then, AFP reports.

Monday&#39;s air-strikes in eastern Aleppo killed dozens of civilians including 12 members of the same family, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The deaths take the number of people killed since Sunday morning to 47. Another 82 people died in rebel fire on government-held neighbourhoods in the west. Further west in Aleppo province, Russian raids killed 23 people in the village of Uwaijal on Monday, the Observatory said.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met envoys from Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Qatar to find a solution to the crisis in the war-ravaged country.

The meeting ended without any major breakthrough and the envoys agreed to meet for follow-up talks. 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

The UN and EU say that the truce needs to be longer to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid

Russia on Monday announced an eight-hour "humanitarian" ceasefire in Syria's rebel-held city Aleppo later this week, the AFP reported. The ceasefire would run from 0800 to 1600 local time (0500 GMT to 1300 GMT) in the city, senior Russian military officer Sergei Rudskoi told the press in Moscow. "We have taken a decision not to waste time and to introduce 'humanitarian pauses', mainly for the free passage of civilians, evacuation of the sick and wounded and withdrawal of fighters," Rudskoi said. "During this period the Russian air force and Syrian government troops will halt air strikes and firing from any other types of weapons." The announcement came the same day that EU warned that the Russia-backed air-strikes in Aleppo could amount to war crimes. "Since the beginning of the offensive by the regime and its allies, notably Russia, the intensity and scale of the aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo is clearly disproportionate," EU foreign ministers said at a meet in Luxembourg. "The deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, schools and essential infrastructure, as well as the use of barrel bombs, cluster bombs, and chemical weapons, constitute a catastrophic escalation of the conflict... and may amount to war crimes," they said in a statement. The United Nations and European Union welcomed the announcement but said the ceasefire was too short to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, AFP reported. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said that as per aid agencies, at least 12 hours were needed to evacuate civilians. "It can be a start... for sure it is a positive step," she said after the ministerial meeting in Luxembourg. "The latest assessment from the aid agencies (however) is that 12 hours is needed so work is needed to find common ground." UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there was "need for a longer pause in order to get the aid in," AFP reported. The EU ministers said they would also press ahead with extending sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, but stopped short of threatening measures against Russia. Air-strikes and clashes in Aleppo have increased as Russian-backed Syrian forces announced their assault on the rebel-held eastern part of the city on September 22. More than 430 people have been killed since then, AFP reports. Monday's air-strikes in eastern Aleppo killed dozens of civilians including 12 members of the same family, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The deaths take the number of people killed since Sunday morning to 47. Another 82 people died in rebel fire on government-held neighbourhoods in the west. Further west in Aleppo province, Russian raids killed 23 people in the village of Uwaijal on Monday, the Observatory said. On Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met envoys from Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Qatar to find a solution to the crisis in the war-ravaged country. The meeting ended without any major breakthrough and the envoys agreed to meet for follow-up talks. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Russia announces 8-hour ceasefire in Aleppo; EU warns of 'war crimes'

Talks on Syria convened by US Secretary of State John Kerry in the Swiss city of Lausanne ended on Saturday without a solution to ending the violence in the war-ravaged country.

Even though Kerry said that the discussion &quot;was exactly what we wanted,&quot; the meeting failed to come up with a joint statement or a concrete solution.

&quot;I would characterize this as an example of what we wanted, which was a brainstorming and a very candid first-time discussion,&quot; Kerry told the press at the at the lakeside hotel where he met envoys from Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Qatar.

&quot;A number of ideas came from the number of different ministers as we hoped that might be able to shape some different approaches,&quot; he said while also adding that the envoys would contact each other on Monday for follow-up talks.

&quot;The way it wrapped up was to have several ideas that need to be quickly followed up,&quot; the US Secretary of State said. &quot;The next contact on trying to follow up on this is going to be immediately, because this is urgent, and we&#39;re not letting any grass grow under our feet.&quot;

The talks come after the collapse of a ceasefire between US and Russia in September that many saw as the last hope for peace this year. 
 
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had said he had &quot;no special expectations&quot; for Saturday&#39;s meeting, said ministers had discussed several &quot;interesting ideas&quot; but he did not elaborate what those ideas were.

On Friday, he had warned that had warned that Russia was not planning to give any new solutions for resolving the conflict. He instead called for implementing previous UN resolutions and specifically for opposition fighters to separate from &quot;terrorist&quot; jihadist groups.

A former Western envoy in Syria had earlier told Reuters, &quot;I don&#39;t understand (why) the Americans are asking the Russians to talk again. They have made zero concessions. Do the Americans believe Moscow was shaken by the break-off last week and will change behavior now?&quot;

In Aleppo, Assad&#39;s Russian-backed government forces intensified their bombardment of the rebel-held east of the city, further damaging any prospect of a renewed ceasefire, AFP reported.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebel forces advanced towards the northern Syrian town of Dabiq, which has become a rallying cry for the Islamic State group as the scene for an end-of-days battle.

Aleppo has been engulfed by some of the worst violence of the conflict since the collapse of last month&#39;s truce deal. More than 370 people, including nearly 70 children, have been killed in regime and Russian bombardment of eastern Aleppo since September 22, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

&nbsp;

US Secretary of State John Kerry said a number of ideas had emerged that needed to be promptly followed-up

Talks on Syria convened by US Secretary of State John Kerry in the Swiss city of Lausanne ended on Saturday without a solution to ending the violence in the war-ravaged country. Even though Kerry said that the discussion "was exactly what we wanted," the meeting failed to come up with a joint statement or a concrete solution. "I would characterize this as an example of what we wanted, which was a brainstorming and a very candid first-time discussion," Kerry told the press at the at the lakeside hotel where he met envoys from Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Qatar. "A number of ideas came from the number of different ministers as we hoped that might be able to shape some different approaches," he said while also adding that the envoys would contact each other on Monday for follow-up talks. "The way it wrapped up was to have several ideas that need to be quickly followed up," the US Secretary of State said. "The next contact on trying to follow up on this is going to be immediately, because this is urgent, and we're not letting any grass grow under our feet." The talks come after the collapse of a ceasefire between US and Russia in September that many saw as the last hope for peace this year. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had said he had "no special expectations" for Saturday's meeting, said ministers had discussed several "interesting ideas" but he did not elaborate what those ideas were. On Friday, he had warned that had warned that Russia was not planning to give any new solutions for resolving the conflict. He instead called for implementing previous UN resolutions and specifically for opposition fighters to separate from "terrorist" jihadist groups. A former Western envoy in Syria had earlier told Reuters, "I don't understand (why) the Americans are asking the Russians to talk again. They have made zero concessions. Do the Americans believe Moscow was shaken by the break-off last week and will change behavior now?" In Aleppo, Assad's Russian-backed government forces intensified their bombardment of the rebel-held east of the city, further damaging any prospect of a renewed ceasefire, AFP reported. Turkey-backed Syrian rebel forces advanced towards the northern Syrian town of Dabiq, which has become a rallying cry for the Islamic State group as the scene for an end-of-days battle. Aleppo has been engulfed by some of the worst violence of the conflict since the collapse of last month's truce deal. More than 370 people, including nearly 70 children, have been killed in regime and Russian bombardment of eastern Aleppo since September 22, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (WION with inputs from agencies)

No breakthrough in US, Russia meet on Syria, envoys to hold follow-up talks

Before war broke out they were bakers, decorators or students. Now Syria&#39;s volunteer rescuers known as the White Helmets risk their lives trying to pull victims from the rubble.

Footage of the daring, often heart-rending rescues carried out by the group&#39;s nearly 3,000 volunteers has frequently gone viral, earning it plaudits around the world.

Images of the aftermath of bombardments of rebel-held areas almost invariably show White Helmets sprinting into clouds of dust and digging through the debris, often with little more than their bare hands.

Among the most famous footage was the July 2014 rescue of Mahmud, a two-month-old dubbed the &quot;miracle baby&quot; after he was pulled from the rubble of a building in battleground second city Aleppo following more than 12 hours of digging.

His rescuer Khaled was killed in August in an air strike on the rebel-held east of the city, one of more than 140 White Helmets killed in the war. A painter and decorator, he was an early volunteer for the group, his round face distinguished by his crooked nose and bright eyes.

He was just 31 when he died and left behind a wife and two daughters. &quot;If I die saving lives, I think God would definitely consider me a martyr,&quot; he once said.

&#39;Outstanding bravery&#39;

A more recent video showed a volunteer sobbing as he cradled a four-month-old girl he helped rescue in Idlib province.

&quot;We&#39;ve been working for two hours to get her out from under the rubble and thank God, it turns out she is alive,&quot; he said, as the girl, covered in dust, coughed and grabbed his collar. In late September, the group won a Swedish human rights prize often referred to an &quot;alternative Nobel&quot; with the jury hailing their &quot;outstanding bravery, compassion and humanitarian engagement.&quot;

It was also seen as a contender for this year&#39;s Nobel Peace Prize, and while it did not win it attracted support from a slew of celebrities. The group was also the subject of a Netflix short documentary.

The rescue group emerged in 2013, when the civil war that has now killed more than 300,000 people was nearing its third year. It was not until the following year that it took its current form and began to be known as the &quot;White Helmets&quot; for the distinctive hardhats worn by its volunteers.

The group&#39;s motto -- &quot;To save one life is to save all of humanity&quot; -- is drawn from a verse of the Koran, although the White Helmets insist they treat all victims, regardless of religion. Some of its members have received training abroad, returning home to instruct colleagues on search-and-rescue techniques.

It receives funding from a number of governments, including Britain, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, but also solicits individual donations to purchase equipment, including their signature hardhats, which cost $144.64.

&#39;Real life heroes&#39;

More than five years into the conflict, the organisation now operates some 120 centres in eight provinces in Syria. Its volunteers include 78 women.

It operates only in rebel-held areas, saying it is not permitted to work in government-held territory, but insists its volunteers are neutral. &quot;We are independent, neutral and impartial, we are not affiliated to any political or armed group,&quot; White Helmet leader Raed Saleh told AFP last month.

&quot;We are ready to rescue people regardless of their political or religious background.&quot;

Still, the organisation is not without its critics, mostly backers of President Bashar al-Assad&#39;s government. Some accuse it of being a tool of its international donors, governments that largely support the opposition.

Others have charged that the group&#39;s volunteers include rebel fighters or even jihadists, circulating pictures purportedly showing White Helmets in civilian clothing bearing arms. But elsewhere, the group&#39;s members have been hailed as &quot;real life heroes&quot; focused only on saving lives.

&quot;We stand for the victims and it is our responsibility and our duty to work for the victims,&quot; Saleh said.

(AFP) 
&nbsp;

The White Helmets rescue force, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, are often the first responders to airstrikes in war-ravaged Syria

Before war broke out they were bakers, decorators or students. Now Syria's volunteer rescuers known as the White Helmets risk their lives trying to pull victims from the rubble. Footage of the daring, often heart-rending rescues carried out by the group's nearly 3,000 volunteers has frequently gone viral, earning it plaudits around the world. Images of the aftermath of bombardments of rebel-held areas almost invariably show White Helmets sprinting into clouds of dust and digging through the debris, often with little more than their bare hands. Among the most famous footage was the July 2014 rescue of Mahmud, a two-month-old dubbed the "miracle baby" after he was pulled from the rubble of a building in battleground second city Aleppo following more than 12 hours of digging. His rescuer Khaled was killed in August in an air strike on the rebel-held east of the city, one of more than 140 White Helmets killed in the war. A painter and decorator, he was an early volunteer for the group, his round face distinguished by his crooked nose and bright eyes. He was just 31 when he died and left behind a wife and two daughters. "If I die saving lives, I think God would definitely consider me a martyr," he once said. 'Outstanding bravery' A more recent video showed a volunteer sobbing as he cradled a four-month-old girl he helped rescue in Idlib province. "We've been working for two hours to get her out from under the rubble and thank God, it turns out she is alive," he said, as the girl, covered in dust, coughed and grabbed his collar. In late September, the group won a Swedish human rights prize often referred to an "alternative Nobel" with the jury hailing their "outstanding bravery, compassion and humanitarian engagement." It was also seen as a contender for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, and while it did not win it attracted support from a slew of celebrities. The group was also the subject of a Netflix short documentary. The rescue group emerged in 2013, when the civil war that has now killed more than 300,000 people was nearing its third year. It was not until the following year that it took its current form and began to be known as the "White Helmets" for the distinctive hardhats worn by its volunteers. The group's motto -- "To save one life is to save all of humanity" -- is drawn from a verse of the Koran, although the White Helmets insist they treat all victims, regardless of religion. Some of its members have received training abroad, returning home to instruct colleagues on search-and-rescue techniques. It receives funding from a number of governments, including Britain, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, but also solicits individual donations to purchase equipment, including their signature hardhats, which cost $144.64. 'Real life heroes' More than five years into the conflict, the organisation now operates some 120 centres in eight provinces in Syria. Its volunteers include 78 women. It operates only in rebel-held areas, saying it is not permitted to work in government-held territory, but insists its volunteers are neutral. "We are independent, neutral and impartial, we are not affiliated to any political or armed group," White Helmet leader Raed Saleh told AFP last month. "We are ready to rescue people regardless of their political or religious background." Still, the organisation is not without its critics, mostly backers of President Bashar al-Assad's government. Some accuse it of being a tool of its international donors, governments that largely support the opposition. Others have charged that the group's volunteers include rebel fighters or even jihadists, circulating pictures purportedly showing White Helmets in civilian clothing bearing arms. But elsewhere, the group's members have been hailed as "real life heroes" focused only on saving lives. "We stand for the victims and it is our responsibility and our duty to work for the victims," Saleh said. (AFP)

Syria's White Helmets: Real-life heroes who run towards bombs

Russian war planes struck rebel held areas north of Aleppo on Saturday as the army shelled the besieged old quarter in a major offensive, rebels and a monitoring group said.

A major hospital in the city was also struck by two barrel bombs.&nbsp;

&quot;Two barrel bombs hit the M10 hospital and there were reports of a cluster bomb as well,&quot; Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society told AFP. Both M10 and the second-largest hospital in the area, M2, had already been hit by heavy bombardment on Wednesday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had denounced the attack as &quot;war crimes&quot;.

Russia was reported on Friday to be sending more warplanes to Syria to ramp up its air campaign as the United States said it had not yet given up on finding a diplomatic resolution.

The latest strikes come 10 days into a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive to capture rebel-held eastern Aleppo and crush the last urban stronghold of a revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that began in 2011.

Saturday&#39;s air strikes focused on major supply lines into rebel-held areas - the Castello Road and Malah district - while fighting raged in the Suleiman al Halabi neighbourhood, the front line to the north of Aleppo&#39;s Old City.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone for a third day on Friday, with Russia&#39;s top diplomat saying Moscow was ready to consider more ways to normalise the situation in Aleppo.

But Lavrov criticised Washington&#39;s failure to separate moderate rebel groups from those the Russians call terrorists, which had allowed forces led by the group formerly known as the Nusra front to violate the U.S.-Russian truce agreed on September 9.

The United States made clear it would not, at least for now, carry through a threat made on Wednesday to halt the diplomacy if Russia did not take immediate steps to end the violence.

Moscow and Assad spurned the ceasefire to launch the new offensive, potentially the biggest and most decisive battle of the civil war, which is now in its sixth year.

Back and forth

An army source quoted in state media said its forces had made advances, which was denied by rebels who say they had repelled a new assault.

A news commentary by the state-run Ikhbariyah said &quot;high level coordination from the air and ground by Syrian and Russian warplanes&quot; had allowed the two allies to &quot;successful hit locations where terrorist groups had dug in.&quot;

But rebels say Syrian troops backed by fresh reinforcements from Iranian-backed militias were struggling to make any gains in a ground offensive in a key frontline in the old city.

&quot;They are shelling the old city heavily after another failed attempt to gain ground. They have lost several fighters and we are steadfast,&quot; said Abu Hamam, a rebel from the Failaq al-Sham group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that monitors the war, reported heavy bombardment by government forces and &quot;back and forth&quot; fighting in the Suleiman al-Halabi neighbourhood.

The monitor said warplanes struck a field hospital in the heavily bombed rebel-held al Sakhour district in the second such strike on one of four such medical facilities targeted in the last few days.

The strike caused at least one death and several injuries and put the hospital out of service, the monitor said.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the bombing and many hundreds more wounded, with little access to treatment in hospitals that lack basic supplies.

Residents say the air strikes are unprecedented in their ferocity, deploying heavier bombs that flatten buildings on top of the people huddled inside.

Russia joined the war exactly a year ago, tipping the balance of power in favour of Assad, who is also supported by Iranian ground forces and Shi&#39;ite militia from Lebanon and Iraq.

The army said it would press its advantage after retaking last Thursday the strategic Handarat camp north of Aleppo that had already changed hands once since the start of the attack.

The Observatory said at least 20 were killed by sustained Russian and Syrian army strikes and artillery shelling on Friday and into the early hours of Saturday, while state media said rebel mortar attacks on government-held Midan, al Ithaa and other areas in the city had killed at least 20 people.

(Agencies) 
&nbsp;

The Russian-backed Syrian army has been shelling rebel-held areas in the city in a major offensive

Russian war planes struck rebel held areas north of Aleppo on Saturday as the army shelled the besieged old quarter in a major offensive, rebels and a monitoring group said. A major hospital in the city was also struck by two barrel bombs. "Two barrel bombs hit the M10 hospital and there were reports of a cluster bomb as well," Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society told AFP. Both M10 and the second-largest hospital in the area, M2, had already been hit by heavy bombardment on Wednesday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had denounced the attack as "war crimes". Russia was reported on Friday to be sending more warplanes to Syria to ramp up its air campaign as the United States said it had not yet given up on finding a diplomatic resolution. The latest strikes come 10 days into a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive to capture rebel-held eastern Aleppo and crush the last urban stronghold of a revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that began in 2011. Saturday's air strikes focused on major supply lines into rebel-held areas - the Castello Road and Malah district - while fighting raged in the Suleiman al Halabi neighbourhood, the front line to the north of Aleppo's Old City. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone for a third day on Friday, with Russia's top diplomat saying Moscow was ready to consider more ways to normalise the situation in Aleppo. But Lavrov criticised Washington's failure to separate moderate rebel groups from those the Russians call terrorists, which had allowed forces led by the group formerly known as the Nusra front to violate the U.S.-Russian truce agreed on September 9. The United States made clear it would not, at least for now, carry through a threat made on Wednesday to halt the diplomacy if Russia did not take immediate steps to end the violence. Moscow and Assad spurned the ceasefire to launch the new offensive, potentially the biggest and most decisive battle of the civil war, which is now in its sixth year. Back and forth An army source quoted in state media said its forces had made advances, which was denied by rebels who say they had repelled a new assault. A news commentary by the state-run Ikhbariyah said "high level coordination from the air and ground by Syrian and Russian warplanes" had allowed the two allies to "successful hit locations where terrorist groups had dug in." But rebels say Syrian troops backed by fresh reinforcements from Iranian-backed militias were struggling to make any gains in a ground offensive in a key frontline in the old city. "They are shelling the old city heavily after another failed attempt to gain ground. They have lost several fighters and we are steadfast," said Abu Hamam, a rebel from the Failaq al-Sham group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that monitors the war, reported heavy bombardment by government forces and "back and forth" fighting in the Suleiman al-Halabi neighbourhood. The monitor said warplanes struck a field hospital in the heavily bombed rebel-held al Sakhour district in the second such strike on one of four such medical facilities targeted in the last few days. The strike caused at least one death and several injuries and put the hospital out of service, the monitor said. Hundreds of people have been killed in the bombing and many hundreds more wounded, with little access to treatment in hospitals that lack basic supplies. Residents say the air strikes are unprecedented in their ferocity, deploying heavier bombs that flatten buildings on top of the people huddled inside. Russia joined the war exactly a year ago, tipping the balance of power in favour of Assad, who is also supported by Iranian ground forces and Shi'ite militia from Lebanon and Iraq. The army said it would press its advantage after retaking last Thursday the strategic Handarat camp north of Aleppo that had already changed hands once since the start of the attack. The Observatory said at least 20 were killed by sustained Russian and Syrian army strikes and artillery shelling on Friday and into the early hours of Saturday, while state media said rebel mortar attacks on government-held Midan, al Ithaa and other areas in the city had killed at least 20 people. (Agencies)

Russian planes pound rebel-held Aleppo, major hospital struck

Syria&#39;s main opposition coalition has criticised the international community for its apathy to the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime and their Russian allies in the rebel-held city of Aleppo. 
 
Muwaffaq Nirabiya, vice president of the Syrian National Coalition,&nbsp;said what was happening in Syria was &quot;a crime&quot; and blamed Russia for turning its back on a political solution. &quot;The Syrian regime and its Russian allies commit atrocities in Syria preferring to opt for a military strategy until the very end,&quot; AFP quoted him as saying in Istanbul. 
 
He also said the ceasefire between US and Russia, which came into effect on September 12 but broke down six days later, was not followed even once and &quot;not a single day has been without bombing and air strikes on our people&quot;. 
 
Jawad Abu Hatab, leader of the opposition-in-exile,&nbsp;criticised the silence of the international community, AFP reported. 
 
&quot;We cannot stand the silence of the international community,&quot; he said, adding that Damascus and its Russian allies &quot;targeted humanitarian convoys, killed civilians, used chemical weapons --&nbsp;weapons that are banned by international conventions, dropped barrel bombs against the population, razed entire buildings and committed massacres&quot;. 
 
He was referring to the attack on an aid convoy in Aleppo on Monday which killed 20 people and destroyed 18 trucks. The United States has held Russia responsible for the incident. 
 
Intense raids continued for a second night on Friday after the Syrian regime announced an operation to retake Aleppo on Thursday, following the collapse of the ceasefire. 
 
Aleppo and its neighbouring regions have come under heavy bombardment during the more than five-year conflict between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups fighting to depose him. The civil war has claimed 300,000 lives and forced millions to flee their homes. 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

Damascus and its Russian allies are committing 'a crime' in Aleppo, they say

Syria's main opposition coalition has criticised the international community for its apathy to the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime and their Russian allies in the rebel-held city of Aleppo. Muwaffaq Nirabiya, vice president of the Syrian National Coalition, said what was happening in Syria was "a crime" and blamed Russia for turning its back on a political solution. "The Syrian regime and its Russian allies commit atrocities in Syria preferring to opt for a military strategy until the very end," AFP quoted him as saying in Istanbul. He also said the ceasefire between US and Russia, which came into effect on September 12 but broke down six days later, was not followed even once and "not a single day has been without bombing and air strikes on our people". Jawad Abu Hatab, leader of the opposition-in-exile, criticised the silence of the international community, AFP reported. "We cannot stand the silence of the international community," he said, adding that Damascus and its Russian allies "targeted humanitarian convoys, killed civilians, used chemical weapons -- weapons that are banned by international conventions, dropped barrel bombs against the population, razed entire buildings and committed massacres". He was referring to the attack on an aid convoy in Aleppo on Monday which killed 20 people and destroyed 18 trucks. The United States has held Russia responsible for the incident. Intense raids continued for a second night on Friday after the Syrian regime announced an operation to retake Aleppo on Thursday, following the collapse of the ceasefire. Aleppo and its neighbouring regions have come under heavy bombardment during the more than five-year conflict between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups fighting to depose him. The civil war has claimed 300,000 lives and forced millions to flee their homes. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Syrian opposition lashes out at 'silence of international community'

Air strikes hit three of four civil defence centres in rebel-held Aleppo on Friday, halting the rescue service&#39;s work, the head of civil defence in the east of the Syrian city said. 
 
The bombardment leveled one centre, put another out of service and also destroyed a fuel store belonging to the civil defence, Ammar al Selmo told Reuters. 
 
&quot;Today, we can say our work has stopped because of the lack of fuel, the destruction of the equipment and the intensity of the bombardment,&quot; he said. 
 
Warplanes targeted rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo on Friday in a second day of heavy bombardment, hours after the Syrian army announced the start of a military operation there.

(Reuters)

The bombardment happened hours after the Syrian army announced the start of a military operation in the rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo.

Air strikes hit three of four civil defence centres in rebel-held Aleppo on Friday, halting the rescue service's work, the head of civil defence in the east of the Syrian city said. The bombardment leveled one centre, put another out of service and also destroyed a fuel store belonging to the civil defence, Ammar al Selmo told Reuters. "Today, we can say our work has stopped because of the lack of fuel, the destruction of the equipment and the intensity of the bombardment," he said. Warplanes targeted rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo on Friday in a second day of heavy bombardment, hours after the Syrian army announced the start of a military operation there. (Reuters)

Air strikes hit three civil defence centres in rebel-held Aleppo

Heavy bombardment of the rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo has killed more than 70 people and has destroyed at least 40 buildings since Friday morning, Ammar al Selmo, the head of civil defence there, told Reuters. 
 
Warplanes targeted the rebel-held districts of Aleppo in a second day of intense bombardment on Friday after the Syrian army declared an offensive to fully capture what was Syria&#39;s biggest city before the war. 
 
Heaviest&nbsp;air&nbsp;strikes 
 
Warplanes launched some of the heaviest air strikes yet on rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Friday after the Russian-backed Syrian army declared an offensive to fully capture Syria&#39;s biggest city, killing off any hope of reviving a ceasefire. 
 
Residents said the streets were deserted as the 250,000 people still trapped in the besieged opposition-held sector of Aleppo sought shelter from jets. 
 
The rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring body described raids by sophisticated jets they said must belong to Russia. Residents also spoke of attacks by helicopters using bombs made from oil drums, a tactic usually attributed to the Syrian army. 
 
&quot;Can you hear it? The neighbourhood is getting hit right now by missiles. We can hear the planes right now,&quot; Mohammad Abu Rajab, a radiologist, told Reuters. &quot;The planes are not leaving the sky, helicopters, barrel bombs, warplanes.&quot; 
 
The intensive bombardment left no doubt that the Syrian government and its Russian allies had spurned a plea from US&nbsp;Secretary of State John Kerry to halt flights to resurrect the ceasefire, which lasted a week before collapsing on Monday. 
 
A rebel commander said the blasts were the fiercest the city had faced. 
 
&quot;I woke up to a powerful earthquake though I was in a place far away from where the missile landed,&quot; he said in a voice recording sent to Reuters. His group had &quot;martyrs under the rubble&quot; in three locations. 
 
In a late night announcement on Thursday, the Syrian military announced &quot;the start of its operations in the eastern districts of Aleppo&quot;, and warned people to stay away from &quot;the headquarters and positions of the armed terrorist gangs&quot;. 
 
The statement gave no details of what the operation may entail - eastern Aleppo had already been the target of intense air strikes on Thursday. A source close to Damascus told Reuters on Friday a major ground operation had yet to begin. 
 
&quot;Military operations include everything, and of course the most important part is the ground operation,&quot; the source said. 
 
There was no immediate comment from the Russian or Syrian militaries on Friday&#39;s air strikes. 
 
The Syrian army&#39;s declaration of the offensive coincided with international meetings on Syria in New York, the latest diplomatic efforts officially intended to revive the truce, which was brokered by the United States and Russia. 
 
Its collapse, the same fate as all previous efforts to halt a 5-1/2-year-old war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians, has doomed what may be the final bid for a peace breakthrough before President Barack Obama leaves office. 
 
&#39;Annihilation&#39; 
 
The Syrian government, strengthened by Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shi&#39;ite militias, has been tightening its grip on rebel-held districts of Aleppo this year, and this summer achieved a long-held goal of fully encircling the area. 
 
The government already controls the city&#39;s western half, where fewer people have fled. Before the war, the city held nearly 3 million people and was Syria&#39;s economic hub. 
 
Recovering full control of Aleppo would be the most important victory of the war so far for President Bashar al-Assad, who has sought to consolidate his grip over the western cities where the overwhelming majority of Syrians lived before fighting drove half of the nation from its homes. 
 
The Observatory said there were at least 40 air strikes since midnight. 
 
Ammar al Selmo, the head of civil defence rescue service in opposition-held Aleppo, said three of its four centres in Aleppo had been hit. &quot;What&#39;s happening now is annihilation in every sense of the word,&quot; he told Reuters. &quot;Today the bombardment is more violent, with a larger number of planes.&quot; 
 
The US-Russian agreement marked their second attempt this year to halt the war. It was supposed to bring about a nationwide ceasefire, improved humanitarian aid access, and a joint US-Russian effort against jihadist groups including Islamic State and the Nusra Front, long al Qaeda&#39;s Syrian wing. 
 
&#39;Long, painful, difficult&#39; 
 
But the ceasefire collapsed into renewed bombardments on Monday, including an attack on aid convoy that Washington has blamed on Moscow, which denies involvement. 
 
Assad remains characteristically defiant, saying on Thursday he expected the conflict to &quot;drag on&quot; as long as it is part of a global conflict in which the groups fighting him are backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and the United States. 
 
On Thursday at the United Nations, the United States and Russia failed to agree on how to revive the ceasefire during what UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura called a &quot;long, painful, difficult and disappointing&quot; meeting. 
 
The International Syria Support Group, including Moscow, Washington and other major powers, met on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders in New York. 
 
&quot;We have exchanged ideas with the Russians and we plan to consult tomorrow with respect to those ideas,&quot; Kerry said, expressing concern at the reports of the planned new Syrian offensive. &quot;I am no less determined today than I was yesterday but I am even more frustrated.&quot; 
 
Western states have backed Kerry&#39;s call to ground warplanes to create the right conditions for the truce. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov&#39;s response to that proposal as &quot;not satisfying.&quot;

(Reuters)

The Syrian army has declared an offensive to fully capture what was Syria's biggest city before the war

Heavy bombardment of the rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo has killed more than 70 people and has destroyed at least 40 buildings since Friday morning, Ammar al Selmo, the head of civil defence there, told Reuters. Warplanes targeted the rebel-held districts of Aleppo in a second day of intense bombardment on Friday after the Syrian army declared an offensive to fully capture what was Syria's biggest city before the war. Heaviest air strikes Warplanes launched some of the heaviest air strikes yet on rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Friday after the Russian-backed Syrian army declared an offensive to fully capture Syria's biggest city, killing off any hope of reviving a ceasefire. Residents said the streets were deserted as the 250,000 people still trapped in the besieged opposition-held sector of Aleppo sought shelter from jets. The rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring body described raids by sophisticated jets they said must belong to Russia. Residents also spoke of attacks by helicopters using bombs made from oil drums, a tactic usually attributed to the Syrian army. "Can you hear it? The neighbourhood is getting hit right now by missiles. We can hear the planes right now," Mohammad Abu Rajab, a radiologist, told Reuters. "The planes are not leaving the sky, helicopters, barrel bombs, warplanes." The intensive bombardment left no doubt that the Syrian government and its Russian allies had spurned a plea from US Secretary of State John Kerry to halt flights to resurrect the ceasefire, which lasted a week before collapsing on Monday. A rebel commander said the blasts were the fiercest the city had faced. "I woke up to a powerful earthquake though I was in a place far away from where the missile landed," he said in a voice recording sent to Reuters. His group had "martyrs under the rubble" in three locations. In a late night announcement on Thursday, the Syrian military announced "the start of its operations in the eastern districts of Aleppo", and warned people to stay away from "the headquarters and positions of the armed terrorist gangs". The statement gave no details of what the operation may entail - eastern Aleppo had already been the target of intense air strikes on Thursday. A source close to Damascus told Reuters on Friday a major ground operation had yet to begin. "Military operations include everything, and of course the most important part is the ground operation," the source said. There was no immediate comment from the Russian or Syrian militaries on Friday's air strikes. The Syrian army's declaration of the offensive coincided with international meetings on Syria in New York, the latest diplomatic efforts officially intended to revive the truce, which was brokered by the United States and Russia. Its collapse, the same fate as all previous efforts to halt a 5-1/2-year-old war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians, has doomed what may be the final bid for a peace breakthrough before President Barack Obama leaves office. 'Annihilation' The Syrian government, strengthened by Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias, has been tightening its grip on rebel-held districts of Aleppo this year, and this summer achieved a long-held goal of fully encircling the area. The government already controls the city's western half, where fewer people have fled. Before the war, the city held nearly 3 million people and was Syria's economic hub. Recovering full control of Aleppo would be the most important victory of the war so far for President Bashar al-Assad, who has sought to consolidate his grip over the western cities where the overwhelming majority of Syrians lived before fighting drove half of the nation from its homes. The Observatory said there were at least 40 air strikes since midnight. Ammar al Selmo, the head of civil defence rescue service in opposition-held Aleppo, said three of its four centres in Aleppo had been hit. "What's happening now is annihilation in every sense of the word," he told Reuters. "Today the bombardment is more violent, with a larger number of planes." The US-Russian agreement marked their second attempt this year to halt the war. It was supposed to bring about a nationwide ceasefire, improved humanitarian aid access, and a joint US-Russian effort against jihadist groups including Islamic State and the Nusra Front, long al Qaeda's Syrian wing. 'Long, painful, difficult' But the ceasefire collapsed into renewed bombardments on Monday, including an attack on aid convoy that Washington has blamed on Moscow, which denies involvement. Assad remains characteristically defiant, saying on Thursday he expected the conflict to "drag on" as long as it is part of a global conflict in which the groups fighting him are backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and the United States. On Thursday at the United Nations, the United States and Russia failed to agree on how to revive the ceasefire during what UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura called a "long, painful, difficult and disappointing" meeting. The International Syria Support Group, including Moscow, Washington and other major powers, met on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders in New York. "We have exchanged ideas with the Russians and we plan to consult tomorrow with respect to those ideas," Kerry said, expressing concern at the reports of the planned new Syrian offensive. "I am no less determined today than I was yesterday but I am even more frustrated." Western states have backed Kerry's call to ground warplanes to create the right conditions for the truce. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's response to that proposal as "not satisfying." (Reuters)

Bombings in rebel-held Aleppo kill 70

The elder brother of the little Syrian boy who was pictured sitting in an ambulance dazed and covered in blood after an air strike, died on Saturday from wounds sustained in the attack on the family&#39;s apartment, a monitoring group said. 
 
&quot;Ali, aged 10, succumbed to his injuries. He was badly wounded in the same bombardment as Omran on August 17 in Aleppo,&quot; the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 
 
The haunting images of four-year-old Omran, sitting in an ambulance after the attack, his face, arms and legs caked in blood and dust, have reverberated around the world, becoming a symbol for the suffering of children in Syria&#39;s brutal five-year conflict. 
 
In video footage from the incident, Omran is seen quietly staring into space before raising his arms to touch his bloodied forehead, then looking at his hand and wiping it on the orange seat. 
 
Omran, his siblings and parents were all plucked from the rubble wounded, but alive, following Wednesday&#39;s bombing on the Qaterji neighbourhood in rebel-held east Aleppo. 
 
The Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists in the divided northern city, confirmed Ali&#39;s death in a video on Saturday. 
 
The images of Omran have sparked a global outcry, much like the photo last September of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi, whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach as his family tried to reach Europe. 
 
More than 290,000 people have been killed since Syria&#39;s conflict broke out, including nearly 15,000 children. 
 
Omran&#39;s home city Aleppo has been divided by government control in the west and opposition fighters in the east since 2012. 
 
Regime warplanes, backed by Russia&#39;s air force since September 2015, bombard the eastern districts while rebel groups fire rockets into the west. 
 
Of the estimated 250,000 people still living in the eastern parts of the city, 100,000 are children, according to the UN&#39;s children agency UNICEF.

(AFP) 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

The elder brother died of injuries suffered in the same bomb attack

The elder brother of the little Syrian boy who was pictured sitting in an ambulance dazed and covered in blood after an air strike, died on Saturday from wounds sustained in the attack on the family's apartment, a monitoring group said. "Ali, aged 10, succumbed to his injuries. He was badly wounded in the same bombardment as Omran on August 17 in Aleppo," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The haunting images of four-year-old Omran, sitting in an ambulance after the attack, his face, arms and legs caked in blood and dust, have reverberated around the world, becoming a symbol for the suffering of children in Syria's brutal five-year conflict. In video footage from the incident, Omran is seen quietly staring into space before raising his arms to touch his bloodied forehead, then looking at his hand and wiping it on the orange seat. Omran, his siblings and parents were all plucked from the rubble wounded, but alive, following Wednesday's bombing on the Qaterji neighbourhood in rebel-held east Aleppo. The Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists in the divided northern city, confirmed Ali's death in a video on Saturday. The images of Omran have sparked a global outcry, much like the photo last September of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi, whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach as his family tried to reach Europe. More than 290,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict broke out, including nearly 15,000 children. Omran's home city Aleppo has been divided by government control in the west and opposition fighters in the east since 2012. Regime warplanes, backed by Russia's air force since September 2015, bombard the eastern districts while rebel groups fire rockets into the west. Of the estimated 250,000 people still living in the eastern parts of the city, 100,000 are children, according to the UN's children agency UNICEF. (AFP)

Brother of Syrian boy in picture that went viral dies

Syrian and Russian warplanes have repeatedly used incendiary weapons in &quot;disgraceful&quot; attacks on civilians in northern Syria, Human Rights Watch charged Tuesday. 
 
The rights group said it had documented the use of incendiary weapons at least 18 times since June that had resulted in more than a dozen injuries.&nbsp;There was &quot;compelling evidence&quot; that Russia was supporting Syrian government planes in those attacks, the New York-based watchdog said. 
 
&quot;The Syrian government and Russia should immediately stop attacking civilian areas with incendiary weapons,&quot; said HRW arms director Steve Goose.&nbsp;&quot;The disgraceful incendiary weapon attacks in Syria show an abject failure to adhere to international law restricting incendiary weapons,&quot; he said. 
 
When dropped from aircraft, incendiary weapons leave distinctive trails of explosives in the sky and trigger small, intense fires upon contact.&nbsp;They were used widely during the Vietnam war and are banned by the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. 
 
HRW documented attacks with such weapons since early June, including two cases on August 7 that hit opposition-controlled parts of the cities of Aleppo and Idlib. 
 
&quot;I could clearly see the flames bursting,&quot; said Idlib resident Mohammad Taj Al-Din Othman, who supplied HRW with photos of the attack.&nbsp;&quot;Within 10 minutes, there were more strikes. The fire was unbelievable, it turned night into day.&quot; 
 
A civil defence volunteer told HRW: &quot;The fire took over everything, houses, cars, oil tanks, and even grass.&quot;&nbsp;The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it too had documented the use of thermite, a type of incendiary substance, by Russian planes in Idlib, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor provinces, and Raqqa. 
 
And earlier this month, activists in Daraya, a besieged rebel-held town near Damascus, accused the regime of using banned chemical agent napalm against residents there.&nbsp;All sides of Syria&#39;s complex war have exchanged accusations of attacks against civilians and use of unconventional weapons, including chlorine and mustard gas. 
 
HRW said the use of incendiary weapons in Syria had &quot;increased significantly&quot; since Russia began its air war in support of Damascus on September 30, 2015.&nbsp;In a letter to HRW in November, Russia acknowledged that &quot;improper use&quot; of incendiary weapons had resulted in &quot;significant humanitarian damage&quot; in Syria. 
 
Since 2012, HRW has documented the use of four different incendiary weapons in Syria, all manufactured by the former Soviet Union.&nbsp;More than 290,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Syria&#39;s conflict erupted in March 2011. 
 
(AFP)

These were used widely during the Vietnam war, but are banned by the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons

Syrian and Russian warplanes have repeatedly used incendiary weapons in "disgraceful" attacks on civilians in northern Syria, Human Rights Watch charged Tuesday. The rights group said it had documented the use of incendiary weapons at least 18 times since June that had resulted in more than a dozen injuries. There was "compelling evidence" that Russia was supporting Syrian government planes in those attacks, the New York-based watchdog said. "The Syrian government and Russia should immediately stop attacking civilian areas with incendiary weapons," said HRW arms director Steve Goose. "The disgraceful incendiary weapon attacks in Syria show an abject failure to adhere to international law restricting incendiary weapons," he said. When dropped from aircraft, incendiary weapons leave distinctive trails of explosives in the sky and trigger small, intense fires upon contact. They were used widely during the Vietnam war and are banned by the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. HRW documented attacks with such weapons since early June, including two cases on August 7 that hit opposition-controlled parts of the cities of Aleppo and Idlib. "I could clearly see the flames bursting," said Idlib resident Mohammad Taj Al-Din Othman, who supplied HRW with photos of the attack. "Within 10 minutes, there were more strikes. The fire was unbelievable, it turned night into day." A civil defence volunteer told HRW: "The fire took over everything, houses, cars, oil tanks, and even grass." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it too had documented the use of thermite, a type of incendiary substance, by Russian planes in Idlib, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor provinces, and Raqqa. And earlier this month, activists in Daraya, a besieged rebel-held town near Damascus, accused the regime of using banned chemical agent napalm against residents there. All sides of Syria's complex war have exchanged accusations of attacks against civilians and use of unconventional weapons, including chlorine and mustard gas. HRW said the use of incendiary weapons in Syria had "increased significantly" since Russia began its air war in support of Damascus on September 30, 2015. In a letter to HRW in November, Russia acknowledged that "improper use" of incendiary weapons had resulted in "significant humanitarian damage" in Syria. Since 2012, HRW has documented the use of four different incendiary weapons in Syria, all manufactured by the former Soviet Union. More than 290,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011. (AFP)

Syrian, Russian warplanes repeatedly using incendiary weapons: Human Rights Watch

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