ALEPPO: Syria's army today halted its attacks in Aleppo to allow for trapped civilians to be evacuated, Russia's foreign minister announced, after advancing regime forces cornered rebels in the city.
"I can tell you that today combat operations by the Syrian army have been halted in eastern Aleppo because there is a large operation underway to evacuate civilians," said Sergei Lavrov, who held talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the German city of Hamburg.
"There is going to be to a column of 8,000 evacuees" travelling five kilometres, added Lavrov, attending a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that Lavrov's announcement was "an indication that something positive could happen".
There was no immediate reaction from Damascus, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, confirmed that the fighting had eased. Air strikes halted and artillery fire was far less intense, according to the AFP correspondent in east Aleppo. Moscow is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and launched an air war in support of his forces last year, while Washington and other Western nations have supported rebel forces. Russia this week suggested a deal was in the works for rebels to be allowed to withdraw from Aleppo to other opposition-held territory.
On the strength of his army's latest gains in territory of east Aleppo held by the rebels, Assad said in a newspaper interview today that victory for his troops would be a turning point in Syria's five-year war. Three weeks into a major offensive to retake all of Aleppo, government troops have captured about 85 per cent of territory rebels controlled in the city's east.
AFP correspondents in the city said rebel areas faced intense bombardment today before Lavrov's announcement. Cornered in a shrinking enclave in Aleppo's southeast, the rebels have asked for a five-day ceasefire. Western countries have backed the call, and Kerry and Lavrov held talks today for a second straight day in an effort to halt the bloodshed.