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Airstrikes on Aleppo Stopped

Airstrikes on Aleppo Stopped
Airstrikes on Aleppo Stopped

The Russian and Syrian air forces have halted all airstrikes on Aleppo, two days ahead of a planned pause in bombing designed to allow militants and civilians to leave the city, the Russian defense minister said on Tuesday. The announcement by Sergei Shoigu follows a promise made by Moscow on Monday to pause strikes on Thursday for eight hours. Shoigu, in a televised meeting with military officials, said strikes had been halted from 1000 local time (0700 GMT) on Tuesday to help guarantee the safety of six corridors for civilian evacuation and to prepare for the removal of sick and wounded people from eastern Aleppo, Reuters reported. Shoigu said Russia now expected militants to leave Aleppo, with their weapons, via two special corridors, one via the Castello Road and the other near the Al-Khai Souq market. “Syrian troops would be pulled back to allow the militants to leave unhindered,” he promised. But militants said on Tuesday they rejected any withdrawal of fighters from Aleppo after Russia announced a halt in air raids, which it said was designed to allow insurgents to leave and to separate moderate fighters from extremist militants.

 

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