Putin Ready to Extend Aleppo Truce
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he was ready to prolong a unilateral ceasefire in Aleppo, after talks in Berlin.
Putin said he told German and French presdients that Russia was "intending to extend as far as possible" a halt to its air raids in Syria's second city, in order to allow civilians and militants to leave the devastated city.
A pause in Russian and Syrian strikes on Aleppo held for a second day on Wednesday, ahead of the brief unilateral ceasefire that started Thursday morning.
Ahead of the talks in Berlin, Moscow announced it would prolong the truce from eight to 11 hours, and said Syrian and Russian warplanes were giving Aleppo a wide berth, according to AFP.
Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial and industrial hub, has been divided roughly in two since 2012, with the government controlling the west and terrorists the east.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.