Fierce air strikes on Aleppo after Syrian army declares offensive

In statements that Gentiloni made and that were broadcasted by Italian state TV after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in NY yesterday, he explained that he mentioned “to Lavrov that Italy was among the few countries that thought from the beginning that Russia’s presence in the Syrian crisis would potentially have positive repercussions, especially given the influence that Moscow can wield on Assad”.

Airstrikes that were halted during the ceasefire resumed this week in eastern Aleppo, according to the AMC activist.

Syrian state media said there were 32 violations by rebels on Sunday alone.

In Damascus, the Syrian army urged residents of Aleppo to stay away “from the positions of terrorists” as it launched its new offensive in defiance of the truce. Five of the victims were in al-Sukkari and 15 others in Bustan al-Qasr and Kallasseh.

“At least 27 civilians, including three children, were killed and dozens more wounded by raids by Russian aircraft and regime helicopters on several opposition districts of Aleppo”, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory said at least 10 people were killed in the strikes, two of them children, but said more dead were feared buried under the rubble.

That activist described the airstrikes as being far more intense and destructive than they were prior to the ceasefire.

“We will keep working to reestablish the ceasefire”.

Rahim Safavi, who is a senior advisor to the Leader on military affairs, appeared pessimistic about what is going on between Russian Federation and Washington in Syria, drawing the attention of Iranian diplomats to any sort of appeasement between the two powers.

The news came as diplomatic efforts at the United Nations in NY failed to salvage a ceasefire that, however shaky, had lasted almost a week.

US Ambassador Samantha Power hit back, describing Russia’s reaction as “a stunt replete with moralism and grandstanding” that was “uniquely cynical and hypocritical”.

“We are trying to see by all means available how we can reach east Aleppo”, Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA, told reporters in Geneva.

“We have begun reconnaissance, aerial and artillery bombardment”, a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP news agency.

The Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni held Bashar Al-Assad’s regime responsible for sabotaging the truce in Syria yesterday and said that Russian Federation must exercise its influence on it.

Aleppo was once considered Syria’s commercial and industrial capital.

The United Nations has 40 trucks with aid ready to enter eastern Aleppo.

Assad dismissed the claims that the strikes on the aid convoy on Monday were backed by Russian Federation, saying whatever American officials say “has no credibility” and is “just lies”. Instead, he blamed the United States for the collapse of a cease-fire many had hoped would bring relief to the war-ravaged country.

“All of our information indicates clearly that this was an airstrike. We will not surrender”, the group said in a statement.

“We hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this airspace given their commitment under the cessation of hostilities was to ground air operations where humanitarian assistance was flowing”, Rhodes said. US officials have told CBS News that only Russian fighter jets were in the air over the convoy during the strike.

The truce effectively collapsed after a week when an aid convoy was bombed on Monday, killing some 20 people.

Up to 275,000 people in eastern Aleppo are in need of humanitarian aid.

Rebel officials and rescue workers said incendiary bombs were among the weapons that rained down on Aleppo.

The United States and Russian Federation are on opposite sides of the 5-1/2-year-old Syrian civil war in which more than 400,000 people have died and 11 million displaced.