Syrian rebels shell west Aleppo
BEIRUT – Syrian rebels Saturday shelled government-held districts in the northern city of Aleppo Saturday, casting doubts on the future of a temporary local cease-fire announced by Russia, the government’s ally.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence across the country, confirmed that Islamist rebels, who largely control the eastern half of the divided city, had shelled western Aleppo.
Shortly before midnight Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that a temporary truce in Aleppo had been extended for three more days, starting at 1 p.m. Saturday local time.
“This is a clear violation of the truce,” said Rami Abdel-Rahman, head of the observatory.
The surge in fighting and civilian deaths has prompted international diplomatic efforts to shore up an earlier U.S.- and Russia-brokered cease-fire that took effect in most parts of Syria in late February.
That truce excluded the Islamic State extremist militia and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.
The Nusra Front has spearheaded recent rebel advances south of the city, including the capture on Friday of the town of Khan Touman which, according to the observatory, formed a major defensive line for government forces in the area.
Saturday, President Bashir Assad accused Western and regional powers, which he did not identify, of supporting “terrorism” in his country.
“Several Western and regional countries, which have stoked terrorism in Syria in the past years, continue to support terrorists secretly and in public,” Assad said, according to the state news agency SANA.
“This support continues despite the efforts being exerted to cease hostilities and reach a political solution in Syria,” he said at a meeting in Damascus with Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader.
Al-Assad usually uses the term “terrorists” to refer to the opposition rebels fighting to oust him.
Iran has been a staunch backer of Assad since the pro-democracy uprising started against his regime in 2011.