Russia halts Aleppo strikes ahead of brief truce

MOSCOW — Moscow announced on Tuesday that Russian and Syrian air forces have stopped bombing Aleppo ahead of a brief truce, a move the Kremlin said showed "goodwill" as it faces mounting criticism for backing a brutal regime offensive.

It comes a day after Russia said there would be an eight-hour "humanitarian pause" in the battered city on Thursday, a move welcomed by the United Nations and the European Union which nevertheless said the ceasefire needed to be longer to allow the delivery of aid.

However, the US State Department voiced scepticism regarding Moscow's latest initiative while welcoming a halt in the bombing.

The West has expressed increasing alarm at the situation in Aleppo, saying the ferocious Russian-backed onslaught on the rebel-held east could amount to a war crime.

"Strikes in the Aleppo region by the Russian and Syrian air forces are stopping today starting at 10:00 am," Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a televised briefing.

"This guarantees the security of civilians' exit through six corridors and prepares the evacuation of the sick and injured from eastern Aleppo," he said, adding that it would also guarantee safe passage for armed rebels to leave eastern Aleppo.

The UN said it was waiting for safety assurances from all sides before going in with "critical humanitarian assistance" for Aleppo's desperate population.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hailed the halt as a “manifestation of goodwill” and denied it was meant to assuage Western critics who have accused Moscow of perpetrating potential war crimes in Syria’s second city.

“It is exclusively a manifestation of goodwill by the Russian military,” he said.

While the Kremlin hailed its move, US State Department spokesman John Kirby remained cautious about Moscow’s initiative. 

“It’s a little too soon to tell how genuine this is and how long it’s going to last,” Kirby told CNN. 

“We’ve seen these kinds of commitments and promises before. And we’ve seen them broken. We’re watching this very carefully.” 

An AFP photographer in eastern Aleppo said air strikes in the rebel-held area had stopped following the Russian announcement.

People in the city’s eastern neighbourhoods were out searching for food on Tuesday, the photographer saw. 

As the weather grows colder, fewer vegetables have been available — even parsley, which had been one of the easiest foods to find.

Air strikes are still being conducted in the broader Aleppo region, however, the Britain-based monitoring group Syrian observatory for Human Rights said. 

Over 250,000 people are under government siege in the city that was once Syria’s thriving commercial hub.

Tuesday’s halt in bombing came just hours after Russian warplanes pounded Aleppo’s rebel-held districts, killing a couple and their three children, the observatory said. 

On Monday, dozens of civilians including 12 members of the same family were killed in strikes against Aleppo, the monitor said.

‘Hospitals, schools targeted’ 

The brutal government offensive against eastern Aleppo — which has destroyed hospitals and other civilian infrastructure — has plunged Syria into some of the worst violence of the five-year war that has claimed over 300,000 lives. 

The European Union said on Monday that the Russian and Syrian “deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, schools and essential infrastructure” could amount to war crimes.

EU foreign ministers also warned that the 28-nation bloc could impose additional sanctions against Damascus, but decided against targeting Russia despite US and British calls to punish Moscow as well.

Talks in Switzerland at the weekend involving foreign ministers from Washington, Moscow and Syria’s neighbours ended with no breakthrough on halting the violence.

A short-lived truce brokered by Moscow and Washington last month could have led the two countries to coordinate strikes against extremists, but the deal quickly unravelled.

Shoigu said on Tuesday that the halt in bombing could “contribute to the success” of international military talks in Geneva on Wednesday on efforts to distance Syrian opposition fighters from extremist group Fateh Al Sham Front, which changed its name from Al Nusra Front after renouncing its ties to Al Qaeda.

Russia has repeatedly demanded that Syrian rebels break all ties with the Fateh Al Sham Front, which the United Nations considers a terrorist group, as a condition to revive a ceasefire in Aleppo.