MOSCOW // Russian forces and Syrian regime troops will briefly halt fire in Aleppo on Thursday, Moscow said on Monday, as criticism mounted of the ferocious Russia-backed assault on the city.
“We have taken a decision not to waste time and to introduce ‘humanitarian pauses’, mainly for the free passage of civilians, evacuation of the sick and wounded and withdrawal of fighters,” said senior Russian military officer Sergey Rudskoi.
Thursday’s so-called “pause” will run from 8am to 4pm local time (5am GMT to 1pm GMT) “in the area of Aleppo”, he added.
“During this period the Russian air force and Syrian government troops will halt air strikes and firing from any other types of weapons.”
Mr Rudskoi said the initiative comes as Russia, the United Nations and “countries with influence” continue to work on a plan for getting the extremist group Jabhat Fatah Al Sham, formerly known as Jabhat Al Nusra, to leave Aleppo.
Russia is currently conducting a fierce bombing campaign in support of a regime offensive to recapture rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
The European Union blasted Russia on Monday for causing “untold suffering” and said that air strikes by Moscow and Damascus in Aleppo “may amount to war crimes”.
Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir, meanwhile, said Riyadh was working on increasing the flow of arms to moderate Syrian rebels in the northern city.
Last Thursday Moscow said it was ready to guarantee safe passage for rebel fighters out of eastern Aleppo along a corridor on the Castello Road, the main potential route for humanitarian assistance into the city.
Airstrikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo province killed at least 36 people on Monday, including children, opposition activists said.
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READ MORE: Bare shelves and rising prices in besieged eastern Aleppo
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Most of the deaths were in the village of Oweijel just west of the city of Aleppo, where at least 23 people were killed in an airstrike that also wounded dozens, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition monitoring group. Another monitoring group the Local Coordination Committees said the air raid was carried out by Russian warplanes and put the death toll at 30.
More than a dozen people were also killed in a rebel-held neighbourhood of Aleppo city, which the Observatory named as the Marjeh neighbourhood. The Aleppo Media Centre, an activist group, said those killed included 11 people with the same family name of Qabs ranging from a month-and-a-half-old baby girl to a 25-year-old man.
Syrian state media also claimed that 49 rebels were killed and wounded in fighting in the southern Aleppo neighbourhoods of Sheikh Saeed and Shurfa.
In the nearby province of Idlib, a drone belonging to the US-led anti-ISIL coalition struck a car in Idlib city, killing all inside. It was not immediately clear who was in the vehicle, but such attacks have previously targeted officials with Jabhat Fatah Al Sham.
All this comes as the Syrian government appears to be trying to improve relations with Egypt, following the first public meeting between Egyptian and Syrian security chiefs.
Maj Gen Ali Mamlouk, head of the National Security Bureau and one of president Bashar Al Assad’s top aides, visited Cairo on Sunday at the head of a delegation to coordinate with Egypt in the fight against “terrorism” in the region, Syria’s state-run news agency Sana said.
Sana said the Syrians met with top intelligence officials, including the deputy chief of Egypt’s intelligence agency, and that both sides agreed on “coordinating political standpoints” and strengthening the “cooperation in fighting terrorism”.
Egypt’s pro-government Sada Al Balad news website and other news websites reported on Sunday that six Syrians had arrived on a private jet from Damascus.
Earlier this month, Egypt voted for rival French and Russian draft resolutions on Syria at the UN Security Council, arguing that both called for a truce and for aid for besieged Syrians in Aleppo.
The move angered Egypt’s major financial backer Saudi Arabia, which supports rebels fighting Mr Al Assad’s Moscow-backed government.
Egypt and Syria are both fighting extremists, including members of ISIL.
* Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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OPENING FIXTURES
Saturday September 12
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds United
Tottenham v Everton
West Brom v Leicester
West Ham v Newcastle
Monday September 14
Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
To be rescheduled
Burnley v Manchester United
Manchester City v Aston Villa
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Moon Music
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners