A report has surfaced out of Russia that Russian armed forces are prepared to start a joint military action with the United States against insurgents in Aleppo.
“We are now in a very active phase of negotiations with our American colleagues,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. “We are moving step by step closer to a plan – and I’m only talking about Aleppo here – that would really allow us to start fighting together to bring peace so that people can return to their homes in this troubled land.”
The oldest and largest city in Syria has been under constant attack by the Islamic State and other extremist forces in recent years. Dubbed as “The Great Battle for Aleppo,” the conflict for one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world has left thousands dead and damaged beyond repair. There is a reported 700,000 citizens still within the city limits as the struggle is fought between rebel and government forces.
“No one and nowhere is safe,” Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said. “Shellfire is constant, with houses, schools and hospitals all in the line of fire. People live in a state of fear. Children have been traumatized. The scale of the suffering is immense.”
Recent events have seen Syrian rebel forces, mainly the former al-Nursa Front, breaking the government siege on the city. Government forces of the Assad Regime have laid a constant siege on Aleppo, and while they have remained close allies with Russia, Russian forces have made an attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to the citizens who remained trapped in the war zone.
Russia, however, has been under recent criticism with the airstrikes in the siege. They have been accused of targeting civilian buildings and infrastructure. Ismail Abdullah, from the Syrian Civil Defense group, detailed the full extent of the dangerous airstrikes to Sky News.
“Russian intervention changed the game, we have a lot of bombing targeting civil defense centers, targeting hospitals, targeting schools, targeting markets.”
A ceasefire momentarily resides over the war-torn city. The remnants of the al-Nursa Front, now Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, are regathering their forces and preparing defenses for the impending government assault that’s to come.
The United States have yet to confirm an official deal brokered with the Russians, but they have recognized the need to resolve the civil war through political means instead of military.
