DHAKA: New talks are under way in Switzerland in which the US and Russia will try to broker another ceasefire in Syria.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov are meeting delegates from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar in the city of Lausanne.
Since a brief truce collapsed last month, Syria and Russia have stepped up bombing of rebel-held east Aleppo, reports the BBC.
Meanwhile, Turkish-backed rebels are reported to be advancing on Dabiq, a stronghold of so-called Islamic State.
The small town holds great symbolic value to IS and features heavily in its propaganda.
Ahead of the talks in Lausanne, officials have played down any hopes of a breakthrough.
On Friday, Russian news agencies quoted Kerry as saying he had no “special expectations” for the talks, while an unnamed French source said: “When you see the results from the previous efforts, quite frankly I'm a bit sceptical about the next ones.”
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to “keep cleaning” Aleppo of rebels and told a Russian newspaper that winning in the city would be a ‘springboard’ to winning in the rest of the country.
On Saturday, organizations including Save the Children, Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee issued a plea “to establish a ceasefire of at least 72 hours in east Aleppo” to allow evacuations and delivery of aid.
There are now no safe areas left in rebel-held parts of the city, according to REACH, an organization that contacts people there regularly in order to gather humanitarian reports.
About 275,000 people live in the besieged areas, and aid organizations have not been able to get to them since the siege resumed on 4 September.
More than 370 people, including nearly 70 children, have been killed in the bombardment of eastern Aleppo, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The monitor said dozens of civilians including children have also died in rebel bombardment of western Aleppo, which is controlled by the Syrian government.
A war that started with an uprising against President al-Assad has now split Syria into many parts. It has been going on for over five years and it has claimed 300,000 lives.
BDST: 2034 HRS, OCT 15, 2016
BD
