In Syria, government forces have seized as much as 75 percent of eastern Aleppo. On Tuesday, anti-government rebels withdrew from Aleppo’s Old City, and the Aleppo Leadership Council called for a five-day truce to allow for the evacuation of civilians from rebel-held areas. The Syrian government, however, says it’s opposed to any more temporary truces in Aleppo, and on Monday, Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution for a week-long ceasefire in the city. The battle for control of eastern Aleppo is seen as a decisive turning point in the five-year civil war, which began with a democratic popular uprising in 2011. If the Syrian government retakes all of Aleppo, the anti-government rebels will be left with little territory—only the northern province of Idlib and some areas in the provinces of Aleppo and Homs and around Damascus. The ongoing ground offensive comes after eastern Aleppo has been besieged for weeks by Syrian government forces and under aerial attack by the Syrian air force and Russia.
Syrian Gov’t Forces Seize Up to 75% of Eastern Aleppo from Rebels
HeadlineDec 07, 2016
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