Syrian government presses on in Aleppo, thousands displaced

They had close to nothing, he said, and have asked for the simplest things, including salt.

The ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group announced Tuesday it had appointed Ali al-Omar, also known as Abu Ammar al-Omar, as its new leader.

“Most importantly, more than 80,000 Syrians have been liberated, tens of thousands children”.

A Syrian government soldier gestures a v-sign under the Syrian national flag near a general view of eastern Aleppo after they took control of al-Sakhour neigborhood in Aleppo, Syria in this handout picture provided by SANA, Nov. 28, 2016. It said the hospital equipment is now being loaded onto military transport planes to be delivered to Syria.

Othman, a resident of the Kurdish-controlled Sheikh Maqsoud, told The New Arab that over 3,000 mostly women and children fled to the district on Monday alone.

“A withdrawal by the factions is rejected”, head of the political office of the Aleppo-based Fastaqim rebel group, Zakaria Malahifji said.

Rycroft said the council would discuss plans for the United Nations to deliver much-needed food and medicine into Aleppo and evacuate the sick and wounded.

“Russia complained that the armed opposition had not agreed that plan”.

The statement was made in response to statements by the US Department of State, British Foreign Office and French Foreign Ministry that Aleppo civilians allegedly sustained huge losses during an operation of the Syrian troops, as well as calls by certain Bundestag lawmakers to impose new sanctions against Russian Federation.

France calls for emergency UN Security Council session as battles rage for control of Syria’s second city.

At the same time, Mr O’Brien noted, indiscriminate rebel shelling of civilian areas of government-controlled western Aleppo had killed civilians and displaced more than 20,000 in recent weeks.

Russian Federation is in effect stopping humanitarian aid getting to civilians in besieged areas of Aleppo in Syria because it will not agree to a ceasefire to allow its safe passage, Downing Street has said.

The Observatory said more than 50,000 out of an estimated quarter-million inhabitants have been displaced by attacks on rebel-held eastern Aleppo over the past 4 days. The official said 20,000 left besieged Aleppo Tuesday.

Information for this article was contributed by Robert Burns of The Associated Press.

He pleaded: “For the sake of humanity we call on – we plead – with the parties and those with influence to do everything in their power to protect civilians and enable access to the besieged part of eastern Aleppo before it becomes one giant graveyard”.

The group said a government artillery attack on a housing area on Wednesday morning, where those displaced by the fighting had sought refuge, killed at least 21 people. There was no way to independently verify the claim or reconcile the different death tolls. Many residents and rights groups have expressed fear of revenge or retaliation attacks during the government advances that have cleaved the territory held by opposition fighters since 2012.

Konashenkov called allegations of large civilian losses during the Syrian government operation alarmist and said Moscow was shocked by what he called the West’s “blindness” when it came to assessing the real situation on the ground.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian army’s advances with members of his Security Council yesterday, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

“Save the civilian population”, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in calling for safe passage for civilians.