Aleppo on fire, so are efforts to resolve Syria crisis

All efforts for a possible solution to Syria's long-running conflicts seem to be shattered, as risks soar with smoke and blaze rises over the city Aleppo, amid scenes of carnage and destruction.

Whether for the ones living under the government rule in western Aleppo, or the others under the rebel control in the eastern part of the city, the conflicts over the past eight days nearly put an end to the shaky truce that had brought a brief lull to the afflicted city.

Violence has been reported to renew in Aleppo, when the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups unleashed repetitive large-scale attacks on Syrian military positions in southern Aleppo.

The attacks were intensified by shelling on the government-controlled parts of the city, as the rebels in eastern Aleppo were trying to advance into the western part of the city.

The Syrian army said it had repelled the attacks, but the shelling continued, prompting airstrikes to pound the rebel-held areas.

The intensified violence reflects the gap between the government and the rebels, as well as the broader international differences between the countries that support each party of the conflict.

The Syrian government side has warned that the U.S.-Russian-backed truce, which went into effect last February in Syria, was violated by the attacking rebels in Aleppo.

The United States and Russia agreed on Friday on a "regime of silence" to take place near the capital Damascus and the northwestern province of Latakia to shore up the falling truce.

Still, Aleppo was not included, and the civilians were the ones paying the price.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group, a total of 244 civilians, including 43 children and 27 women over 18, were killed by the rebels shelling on government areas and Syrian airstrikes on rebel-held areas over the past eight days.

The official Syrian televisions have focused their coverage recently on the victims of the rebels' shelling, showing angry people shouting and calling on the Syrian army to destroy the rebel-held areas, from which the mortars were being fired.

On the other side, opposition activists are publishing hunting photos and video footages of dead people even children being pulled out of rubble amid the screams their frantic parents, accusing Syrian warplanes of striking them relentlessly.

The size of the calamities in Aleppo has become so big that each side of the conflict is sticking more to fixing the situation through war, amid reports that the government forces were bracing for a wide-scale offensive.

"It's the time to unleash the battle to fully liberate Aleppo from the abomination of terrorism at this very time that holds many connotations, which should reflect on the course of the military campaign across the country," the paper said.

Meanwhile, the international community sounded the alarm about targeting civilians.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Friday urged all the parties to immediately end violence and military actions which too often reflect a "monstrous disregard for civilian lives."

"Reports are coming from Aleppo, Homs, Damascus and Rural Damascus, Idleb and Deir ez-Zour about mounting civilian casualties," the UN human rights chief said in a statement.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said the intense battles raging in Aleppo "are putting millions at grave risk."

"Wherever you are, you hear explosions of mortars, shelling and planes flying over," said Valter Gros, who heads the ICRC's office in Aleppo.

Gros added Aleppo's people are living on the edge, worrying about their lives and nobody knows what is coming next.

The observatory said airstrikes on Wednesday evening targeted a hospital in a rebel-held area east of Aleppo, killing over 50 people.

Russia and the Syrian army have denied carrying out the airstrikes.

The Red Cross said that Al Quds hospital in eastern Aleppo city was completely destroyed overnight, with several people killed and many more deprived of life-saving medical care.

The organization has urged all parties to "spare the civilians, don't attack hospitals or use weapons of mass destruction."

Aleppo is the second largest city in Syria and one of the worst affected in the past five years of conflict. Large parts of the city have been destroyed, leaving infrastructure severely damaged and civilians out of water and electricity for months.

The latest faltering round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva started this week, during which the opposition Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC) withdrew from the meeting and its chief negotiator, Muhammad Alloush, urged his rebel followers on ground in Syria to inflame the situation and carry out attacks on government forces.

The HNC insisted on a transitional governing body with full executives to rule Syria with no role of President Bashar al-Assad, while the government delegation insisted that the matter of al-Assad presidency is a red line, offering the formation of a national unity government under his presidency.

Arab Today