Iraq News

UN chief, opposition call for Aleppo ceasefire

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday (December 7th) appealed for a ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo to allow aid to reach civilians, AFP reported.

"Most of the infrastructure, hospitals, clinics, water supplies, food supplies have been cut off. This is a serious humanitarian crisis," Ban said.

In the face of an assault by the regime and its allies, opposition fighters retreated Wednesday from all of Aleppo's Old City, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Observatory said opposition fighters withdrew from the last parts of the Old City under their control overnight after the regime seized the neighbouring districts of Bab al-Hadid and Aqyul.

The offensive showed no signs of slowing and overnight the regime carried out heavy shelling of the al-Zabdiya neighbourhood and other territory still under opposition control in the south-east of the city, the Observatory said.

The assault has prompted a mass exodus of east Aleppo residents and the Observatory said Wednesday that at least 80,000 had now fled their homes.

Opposition fighters on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for an "immediate five-day humanitarian ceasefire" in Aleppo.

The statement, which opposition representatives said had been approved by all armed opposition factions in the city, called for "the evacuation of civilians who wish to leave" for opposition-held territory in northern Aleppo province.

The US, Britain and France on Wednesday issued a joint statement with Canada, Germany and Italy calling for an immediate ceasefire to allow aid into Aleppo.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry was to hold fresh talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Germany on efforts to halt the fighting.

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