Immediate Cease-Fire in Syria Is Necessary, Pope Francis Says

Pope Francis called for an “immediate cease-fire” in Syria on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

“It is with a sense of urgency that I renew my appeal, imploring those responsible with all my strength for an immediate cease-fire,” he said, in his strongest statement yet on the almost six-year conflict in Syria.

A cease-fire, Francis added, is necessary “to allow for the evacuation of civilians, especially children, who are still trapped by cruel bombardments.”

A short-lived cease-fire in September fell apart days later, and was followed by some of the most intense Syrian and Russian airstrikes on rebel-held Aleppo yet. The pope’s plea for a cease-fire comes as France and the U.S. call for war crimes investigations in Syria into actions allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian and Russian governments, with the U.N. in gridlock on how to manage the crisis.

Rising Death Toll Amid Renewed Russian Aerial Campaign and Rebel Shelling

Some 25 civilians were killed in Russian airstrikes and four were killed in rebel shelling in Aleppo on Tuesday, AFP reported.

Russia targeted several residential areas in eastern, rebel-held Aleppo using airstrikes, which have become the center of debate between state leaders. Russian president Vladimir Putin canceled a trip to Paris on Tuesday, after France called for a war crimes investigation in Syria, and the French president Francois Hollande suggested he would only meet Putin to discuss Syria.

Four of the 25 killed in Aleppo were children, less than a week after the Syrian government said it would reduce its bombing of Aleppo.

“This is the heaviest Russian bombardment since the Syrian regime [last week] announced it would reduce the bombardment,” said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman.

In addition to killing at least four people, rebel shelling on government-held areas in western Aleppo wounded 14 others.

In the southern province of Daraa, five schoolchildren were among six people reported killed in rebel rocket fire on a primary school.

Islamic State Is Resisting a Rebel Offensive, Turkish Military Says

So-called Islamic State militants are putting up a fight against Turkish-backed rebels according to a Turkish military statement on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

“Due to stiff resistance of the Daesh (Islamic State) terror group, progress could not be achieved in an attack launched to take four settlements,” the statement read.

Turkey launched “Operation Euphrates Shield” almost two months ago, sending in its own military tanks and warplanes and providing support to Syrian rebels to help push back Islamic State militants from the Turkish border.

The rebels have taken control of nearly 425 square miles (1,100 square km) since the beginning of the operation, and are currently pushing toward the Islamic State’s bastion in the city of Dabiq. Recent clashes and airstrikes have killed 47 of the militants in the past 24 hours, according to the Turkish military. Eight Turkish-backed rebels were killed and an additional 22 wounded, but there were no Turkish casualties.

Operation Euphrates Shield has also targeted the YPG, the main Kurdish forces in Syria. The YPG is a key ally of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, but Turkey views the group as an extension of its own Kurdish insurgency, which has been fighting for autonomy since the 1980s.

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