Aleppo (AsiaNews) – As of one o’clock this morning Russia has declared 48 hours of “silence” for Aleppo, to “reduce the level of armed violence and stabilize the situation.” Russia’s move seems to be a response to statements made by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had declared that “our patience has a limit,” referring to the US-Russia agreement for a truce in Syria , that since February 27 has been continuously violated.
The past 24 hours have been among the most violent in this war that has lasted for over five years and he has so far claimed at least 280,000 victims, mostly civilians, in addition to millions of internal refugees and those who have fled abroad.
Sources of local civil society assert that yesterday the fighting that erupted between armed opposition forces and the Syrian regular army in Aleppo caused the death of 70 people.
Government forces have managed to regain control of large areas in the southern part of the outskirts of Aleppo, entering the villages of Khalsa and Zeitan, now completely under the control of the Syrian government, although according to sources, “gunshots continue to be heard” and many areas remain inaccessible because of land mines planted on the ground before the militias retreat.
The “fierce” fighting lasted for hours before Syrian troops secured the withdrawal from Zeitan and Khalsa of militants of the jihadist terrorist group “Islamic Turkestan Party” and “Al Nusra Front”, both very close to Turkey.
“Ten hours after the liberation” says local source who prefers to remain anonymous, “they tell us that the two villages are freed, however, we still hear gunshots and we cannot get closer to ascertain whether there are still members of Al Nusra Front present”.
The air force has continued to bomb from the air, which suggests that enemy combatants are still present in large numbers around these two “liberated” villages to the south of Aleppo.
The air force has flown over and also made raids on the village of Anjara located in the western part of Aleppo while on the other hand, the jihadi militias have hit civilian houses with rockets and mortars in the village of Julma near the town of Afrin in ‘northern hinterland of Aleppo.
Within the city, the worst fate once again has befallen neighborhoods inhabited by Christians: the rockets of Islamic terrorists bombed the neighborhoods of Al Maaydan inhabited mainly by Armenians, those of Hananu, Salhin, Duwar el Jendol, Akl Forkan, in the heart of Aleppo, once the second largest city in Syria and now almost completely destroyed. (PB)
