Russia to hold another 'humanitarian pause' in Syria

MOSCOW

Russia on Wednesday announced it will hold another “humanitarian pause” in attacks on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo this Friday to prevent casualties and allow the provisioning of much-needed aid.

The Russian and Syrian bombardment will halt for 10 hours, between 9.00 a.m. and 7.00 p.m. local time (0700-1700GMT), on Friday, Nov. 4 at the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operations department, Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, told a news conference after a high-ranking meeting in Moscow.

He said eight existing humanitarian corridors would remain open, six for civilians, and two for armed groups to stop fighting in Aleppo and leave the city with their arms.

On Oct. 18, Russian and Syrian warplanes ceased striking Aleppo in the run-up to a "humanitarian pause" slated for Oct. 20, but also urged civilians to leave the city, warning that a new offensive would begin once the pause expired.

Russia later extended the pause until Oct. 24.

Hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed or injured in Russian and Syrian airstrikes since Sept. 19, when the Assad regime announced the end of a week-long truce.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-torn country, according to UN figures.

Reporting by Elena Teslova;Writing by Sibel Ugurlu