Reuters, Beirut :
Fighting persisted in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Thursday more than an hour into a three-hour ceasefire announced by Russia, two rebel groups and a witness in the city said, as government forces tried to reverse last week’s opposition gains.
Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, said on Wednesday daily ceasefires would last from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. daily to facilitate the delivery of aid supplies.
Asked at 10.45 a.m. (0745 GMT) whether the ceasefire had taken effect, Mohammed Rasheed, spokesman for the rebel Jaish al-Nasr group, said: “No, on the contrary.”
“Today since the morning there has been a (government) attempt to advance in the Ramousah area. There has been a big escalation by Russian warplanes,” he added.
A witness in Aleppo near the frontline between the opposition-held eastern sector and the government-held west of the city also reported hearing continued fighting after 10.30 a.m.
A second rebel official said fighting was continuing at 11 a.m. local time.
Syrian state television reported on Thursday that the army had advanced on Wednesday night under cover of air strikes to positions near the areas that insurgents captured last week.
However, Rasheed of Jaish al-Nasr and Ahmed Hamaher of the Nour al Din al-Zinki group, which is also fighting in Aleppo, said government forces had taken some positions but then been quickly forced back.
BBC adds: Earlier some of the last doctors in the rebel-held east of the city appealed to US President Barack Obama to come to the aid of the 250,000 civilians there.
All Russian military action, air and artillery strikes was being halted between 10:00 (07:00 GMT) and 13:00, a defence ministry official told a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
Lt Gen Sergei Rudskoy said Russia supported the UN’s proposal to organise joint supervision of the delivery of humanitarian aid to Aleppo via the Castello road and its military experts were working on this with UN and US representatives.
But UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Stephen O’Brien said that while the three-hour cessation would be taken seriously, a 48-hour break was needed to get enough aid in on trucks.
“United Nations agencies and our partners remain ready to assist the civilian population across Aleppo. We have supplies ready to roll – food rations, hospital supplies, ambulances, fuel for generators, water supplies and more,” he said.
“We will continue to use all available routes and mechanisms to do this, including cross-line and cross-border operations from Turkey. We can deliver these within 24-48 hours – if we have safe access.”
A representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus, Ingy Sedky, said that any initiative alleviating the suffering of civilians would have a positive impact.
“However, our main concern is that as long as there is no consent between all the parties on the ground on the ceasefire I’m afraid this will not allow us to do our job and to deliver safely the humanitarian aid and might put the civilians at risk,” she told the BBC.
Fighting has escalated in Aleppo in recent days, with rebels severing the government’s main route to the west of the city.
The offensive sought to break a siege by pro-government forces, who encircled the east in July with the support of Russian aircraft.
Fighting persisted in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Thursday more than an hour into a three-hour ceasefire announced by Russia, two rebel groups and a witness in the city said, as government forces tried to reverse last week’s opposition gains.
Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, said on Wednesday daily ceasefires would last from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. daily to facilitate the delivery of aid supplies.
Asked at 10.45 a.m. (0745 GMT) whether the ceasefire had taken effect, Mohammed Rasheed, spokesman for the rebel Jaish al-Nasr group, said: “No, on the contrary.”
“Today since the morning there has been a (government) attempt to advance in the Ramousah area. There has been a big escalation by Russian warplanes,” he added.
A witness in Aleppo near the frontline between the opposition-held eastern sector and the government-held west of the city also reported hearing continued fighting after 10.30 a.m.
A second rebel official said fighting was continuing at 11 a.m. local time.
Syrian state television reported on Thursday that the army had advanced on Wednesday night under cover of air strikes to positions near the areas that insurgents captured last week.
However, Rasheed of Jaish al-Nasr and Ahmed Hamaher of the Nour al Din al-Zinki group, which is also fighting in Aleppo, said government forces had taken some positions but then been quickly forced back.
BBC adds: Earlier some of the last doctors in the rebel-held east of the city appealed to US President Barack Obama to come to the aid of the 250,000 civilians there.
All Russian military action, air and artillery strikes was being halted between 10:00 (07:00 GMT) and 13:00, a defence ministry official told a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
Lt Gen Sergei Rudskoy said Russia supported the UN’s proposal to organise joint supervision of the delivery of humanitarian aid to Aleppo via the Castello road and its military experts were working on this with UN and US representatives.
But UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Stephen O’Brien said that while the three-hour cessation would be taken seriously, a 48-hour break was needed to get enough aid in on trucks.
“United Nations agencies and our partners remain ready to assist the civilian population across Aleppo. We have supplies ready to roll – food rations, hospital supplies, ambulances, fuel for generators, water supplies and more,” he said.
“We will continue to use all available routes and mechanisms to do this, including cross-line and cross-border operations from Turkey. We can deliver these within 24-48 hours – if we have safe access.”
A representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus, Ingy Sedky, said that any initiative alleviating the suffering of civilians would have a positive impact.
“However, our main concern is that as long as there is no consent between all the parties on the ground on the ceasefire I’m afraid this will not allow us to do our job and to deliver safely the humanitarian aid and might put the civilians at risk,” she told the BBC.
Fighting has escalated in Aleppo in recent days, with rebels severing the government’s main route to the west of the city.
The offensive sought to break a siege by pro-government forces, who encircled the east in July with the support of Russian aircraft.
