Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Syrian army’s Aleppo advance slows but victory in sight

862635
862635
minus
plus

ALEPPO: The Syrian army’s advance in Aleppo slowed on Thursday but a victory was still firmly in sight after President Bashar al Assad vowed that retaking the nation’s second city would change the course of the six-year civil war in his favour.


Lightning gains in recent days in which government forces and their allies recaptured Aleppo’s historic Old City lost some momentum in the face of stiff rebel resistance but the Syrian leadership was confident.


Assad has long sought to seize divided Aleppo which would put him in control of Syria’s major cities, the south, central spine and western flank bordering the Mediterranean, dealing a devastating blow to rebels.


Outside of Aleppo, the government and its allies are also putting severe pressure on remaining rebel redoubts. Assad said in an interview with a Syrian newspaper that victory in Aleppo would be a landmark, but not the end of the war. The rebels on Wednesday called for an immediate five-day ceasefire and the evacuation of civilians and wounded, but gave no indication they were ready to withdraw.


“In the past several days an intensive document exchange on the situation in Aleppo has taken place,” the Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.


“We are close to reaching an understanding, but I want to warn against high expectations,” he said.


US Secretary of State John Kerry said after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov he was not confident but “hopeful” about reaching an agreement, and was still waiting for “certain feedback and input” from Moscow.


The UN assessment for a possible deal, which would see civilian evacuations from besieged rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo and help aid delivery, was bleak.


Russia and the US were “poles apart” in trying to agree on terms for evacuations from east Aleppo, UN Syria humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said.


Five months of negotiations over aid plans had all failed and produced “nothing”, Egeland said, adding that it was up to Moscow and Washington to agree an evacuation from east Aleppo, where the UN Syria envoy has said more than 100,000 people may still be living.


More than 800 people have been killed and 3,000-3,500 wounded in eastern Aleppo in the past 26 days, while the remaining trapped civilians await an effective death sentence, the president of the Aleppo local council said. — Reuters


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon