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Syria willing to halt Aleppo airstrikes

February 18, 2015

Damascus has agreed to stop air attacks on the northern city of Aleppo for six weeks for humanitarian reasons, the UN's special envoy to Syria said. Recent fighting in the city has left hundreds dead.

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Aleppo / Syrien / Bürgerkrieg
Image: Reuters

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was willing to suspend aerial bombardment of Aleppo for six weeks to allow humanitarian aid, the UN Special Envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told the United Nations Security Council.

"The government of Syria has indicated to me its willingness to halt all aerial bombing and artillery shelling for a period of six weeks all over the city of Aleppo from a date we'll announce in Damascus," de Mistura told journalists after addressing the Security Council.

Similar truces were put in place in the past months near the central city of Homs, but were criticized for heavily favoring the government. The United States even called them akin to "surrender arrangements."

Clashes in the divided city

Shortly after de Mistura's statement, however, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70 pro-government fighters and more than 80 insurgents were killed after the army started an offensive in Aleppo.

The city has been the site of fierce fighting between government forces and a several rebel factions, including Islamist brigades, al Qaeda's Syrian wing, the Nusra Front, and moderate rebels. The United Nations is seeking a ceasefire in order for humanitarian aid to be distributed.

Syriantroops effectively severed the main rebel supply route into the eastern half of Aleppo city, which is under opposition control.

Hope for future ceasefires

Opposition groups in Damascus said they would wait for de Mistura's detailed proposal.

Staffan de Mistura / Syrien / UN
De Mistura said he hopes a truce in Aleppo could be recreated in other parts of SyriaImage: picture-alliance/AA

"The Assad regime's compliance with any such proposal will be judged by actions, not words. And this far, his actions have only been brutality and terror," Najib Ghadbian, UN representative of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, earlier told journalists.

De Mistura is the third in a series of UN envoys charged with trying to solve the Syrian conflict. Last year, he proposed setting up ceasefire zones to allow the distribution of humanitarian aid in Aleppo. The western part of the city is controlled by rebels and the eastern part by government troops.

The effort could serve as a model for future similar ceasefires, according to de Mistura, who said the purpose of the short-term truce was "to spare as many civilians" as possible while trying to find a political solution to the crisis.

According to the UN, nearly 200,000 have been killed since the movement to dislodge Assad and the subsequent civil war began in Syria four years ago.

mg/sms (AP, AFP)