Syrian Government and Allies Advance in Aleppo
Syrian government forces acting with the support of Russian airstrikes and Iranian-backed militias continue to make advances in Aleppo, according to Reuters.
Airstrikes have targeted hospitals, a factor that British foreign secretary Boris Johnson said made peace negotiations “impossible.” Medical workers in rebel-held eastern Aleppo said that the area’s main trauma unit, the M10 hospital, had been hit three times over the past few days rendering it unusable, BBC News reported.
The Syrian army said in a statement that fighters should leave rebel-held parts of the city. The announcement said that rebel groups leaving the city would be given safe passage and echoes a similar proposal made in July.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s Audio Recording on Syria
The New York Times released a 40-minute audio recording of a meeting at the Dutch Mission to the United Nations in which United States secretary of state John Kerry said he had failed to convince colleagues to bolster negotiations in Syria with the threat of force.
Some 20 participants were at the meeting, which took place on September 22, including diplomats and representatives of Syrian civilian groups, according to Reuters. It took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly after a collapse of the cease-fire negotiated by the U.S. and Russia.
Kerry said that he was among three or four people in President Obama’s administration who had argued for the use of force but had lost the argument.
Kerry said that any move made by the U.S. government to arm rebels or commit their own forces to the conflict could backfire.
In June, an internal memo signed by 51 U.S. diplomats criticized the Obama administration’s policy in Syria and urged airstrikes against the Syrian government, the New York Times reported.
Syran Monitor Reports Russian Airstrikes Have Killed More Than 9,300
The United Kingdom-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that Russian airstrikes have killed 9,364 people, including 906 children.
The Associated Press reported that the Observatory said at least 3,804 of those killed were civilians, 2,746 were members of the so-called Islamic State and 2,814 were members of other militant and opposition forces.
Friday marked the first anniversary of Russia launching its air campaign in Syria. The Observatory said that Russian air power has been responsible for the displacement of tens of thousands of people and major destruction outside of government-controlled areas.
Opposition groups have accused the Russian military of carrying out most of the airstrikes in the Syrian offensive in Aleppo, which have killed some 320 civilians in the past two weeks.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin, said that the Islamic State group and other “terrorist” factions would have taken control of the country if Russia had not made its military intervention.
The anniversary comes weeks after the collapse of a short-lived cease-fire, which Russia blames on the United States and the opposition forces it backs. U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that Washington had threatened to end diplomatic discussions with Moscow, saying that current discussions between the two powers were “on life support.”
RECOMMENDED READS:
- The Economist: Grozny Rules in Aleppo
- The Atlantic: Who Are the White Helmets?
- The Washington Post: Syrians Refuse Attempted Relocation Along Jordan Border
- BBC News: Reporting Syria’s War – The Images You Won’t See
- The Huffington Post: The Aleppo Tragedy: A Moral Imperative to Act