Russia Extends Aleppo Ceasefire, Hasn’t Struck in Nine Days

Syrian Observatory: No Civilian Deaths From Air Strikes in Eastern Aleppo

Much was made of Russia’s initial eight hour ceasefire, extended to 11 hours and eventually several days, expiring earlier this week, Russian officials, however, say they have not conducted any airstrikes since, and that they consider the moratorium on strikes extended, with no end date announced.

Russia added that they have not launched an airstrike against Aleppo or even flown a plane over the area in nine days. The Nusra Front and its allies complain they’ve been struck in the past couple days by airstrikes, but it is unclear if these strikes were conducted by the Syrian military.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that strikes had been launched against the rebels by someone, but seemed to back up the Russian claim, noting that not a single civilian death had been reported from airstrikes in Eastern Aleppo in some time.

Russia initially announced the ceasefire with an eye toward convincing moderate rebels within Aleppo to separate themselves from Nusra. They also encouraged civilians to evacuate the area, though the UN has been unable to get rebel support for an evacuation and thus been unable to do it in any organized fashion.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.