Syrian government shows off areas recaptured from rebels in Aleppo

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has moved one kilometer into rebel-held parts of Aleppo from the east, according to the AP.

Russian Federation said today that it was ready for talks with the United States about the withdrawal of all Syrian opposition factions from eastern Aleppo where advances by the Russian Federation and Iran-backed Syrian army and its Shia militia allies threaten to deal a crushing blow to the revolution.

The regime launched a new offensive on rebel-held parts of Aleppo several weeks ago.

Turkey backs the Syrian anti-government fighters and has been acting as a mediator in the meetings.

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Syrian aircraft have been pounding east Aleppo with air strikes for months – often using crude munitions like barrel bombs – but as the ground advance has gathered pace the army has instead turned to more precise artillery.

“The US is doing everything it can to try to slow down this momentum, while they figure out someway ‘what we can do to derail the success of the Syrian, Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah coalition, ‘” Dean said.

“The Security Council has failed the Syrian people for the past six years and the principle organ of the United Nations that was in fact created to maintain worldwide peace and security is unable, unfit, unwilling to do so”, Tadros said.

Kerry said he will gauge progress with Lavrov when they meet again on the sidelines of a European security conference in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday.

“Our response to the Americans was as follows: we can not leave our city, our homes, to the mercenary militias that the regime has mobilized in Aleppo”, said Malahifji, the head of the political office of an Aleppo rebel group.

In preparation for street-by-street fighting in these districts, hundreds of fighters from Syria’s elite Republican Guard and Fourth Division arrived in Aleppo Friday, the Observatory said.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham is one of the largest and most powerful groups fighting the Syrian government, and is considered by both the United States and Russian Federation to be a “terrorist” organisation.

Speaking via video-link from London, Stephen O’Brien told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that was nowhere more apparent than in the besieged city of eastern Aleppo with almost a quarter of million people trapped inside.

While the talks were going on, Syria showed off its recent gains in Aleppo, once the country’s largest city and commercial center.

The United Nations estimates that as many as 31,000 people have fled the city since the current Assad offensive began last week.

Meanwhile, clashes continued on the southern edge of eastern Aleppo as pro-government troops attempted to breach the rebel-enclave. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at three, adding it was likely to rise.

Amnesty International said it too had received reports of Syrian security forces detaining men in Aleppo areas recaptured by the government and warned of the potential for revenge attacks.