Russian field hospital hit in Syria’s Aleppo, nurse killed

At least 384 civilians have been killed in east Aleppo during the offensive, while rebel fire into the west has killed at least 105 people, the Observatory said.

Syrian government and allied forces have, in the last two weeks, driven rebels from most of their territory in what was once Syria’s most populous city.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that the Syrian army had suspended military activity to let civilians leave rebel-held areas, RIA news agency reported. Al-Sukkari is in the southern part of eastern Aleppo, an area that has become home to the majority of the displaced civilians who stayed behind.

Lavrov’s words were echoed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who called this the “biggest operation for civilian evacuation”.

Western diplomats, who described discussions with Trump advisers on condition of anonymity, said their message was that a USA alliance with Russian Federation, and by extension Assad, to crush groups like Islamic State will backfire.

“We are working on something”, Mr Kerry said after they met. Syria talks will resume in Paris on Friday, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Air strikes on east Aleppo halted on Thursday evening following Moscow´s announcement of a “humanitarian pause” but heavy shelling continued into the morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “I go out to see my people in pain and fear”, he told CNN via text message.

Another round of discussions will be held in Geneva on Saturday.

Assad not in favor of ceasefire.

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 city would change the course of the six-year-old war.

Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, he described Aleppo’s catastrophe as the worst “since World War II itself”.

“Even if we finish in Aleppo, we will carry on with the war against them”, Assad added.

“The battle of Aleppo will be a gain, but.it doesn’t mean the end of the war in Syria”.

Government forces entered rebel-held parts of the Old City late on Tuesday, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported.

Russian Federation wants the talks with Washington scheduled to take place this week, for the withdrawal of rebel forces, to be concluded first before a truce can be introduced but the rebels have rejected calls to evacuate Aleppo.

Trump’s shift has a lot of detractors in the existing administration, as well as among Republican hawks, but recent precipitous losses by Syrian rebel groups, particularly the Nusra Front-dominated rebels in Aleppo, are likely to make this shift a lot more smooth.

Syria´s army, backed by Iranian fighters and the Lebanese militant group Hizbullah, has recaptured 85 percent of the eastern parts of Aleppo that the rebels had held since mid-2012.

“The regime is draining the rebel fighters of ammunition by opening many fronts at the same time”, he said.

Egeland said Thursday in Geneva that efforts to evacuate hundreds of wounded people from eastern Aleppo stalled after a deadly attack on a Russian military hospital last week.

Rebel defenses have collapsed rapidly in the face of a massive government assault backed by Russian Federation and thousands of Iranian-backed Shiite fighters.

Maj Gen Konashenkov also called on worldwide organisations such as the Red Cross to condemn the attack on the medics “who were doing their medical duty to help the civilians of Aleppo”.

A political solution in Syria, as envisioned by Western powers, would involve a transition in which Assad eventually left power.

In the last week government forces steadily gained ground until on Wednesday – after a highly symbolic retreat from the Old City – the rebels called for the ceasefire to allow thousands of civilians to evacuate.

The few medical facilities still operating are packed with injured people and resemble “slaughterhouses” with no proper equipment, one activist inside eastern Aleppo told CNN.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 288 civilians have been killed in the province since October 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes.