Syrian Army and Allies Advance Toward Aleppo

Syrian government forces and allied militias continued to make advances in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, approaching Aleppo’s Old City over the weekend, Reuters reported.

Recent army gains increase the likelihood that rebel forces will be pushed out of east Aleppo, despite a senior opposition official saying that rebel groups will not leave.

On Sunday, the Syrian military told opposition forces to leave the city or face “inevitable death.” Driving the opposition from Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, would mark one of the most significant victories for the Syrian government since the beginning of the civil war in 2011.

The United Nations said that more than 31,000 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo since Syrian forces, bolstered by foreign fighters from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran, began their ground offensive last week, the Associated Press reported.

The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Monday on a resolution to implement a seven-day truce in Aleppo, with the possibility of renewal. While it is unclear whether Russia will use its veto to block the resolution, Moscow said it was ready to negotiate with the U.S. on the withdrawal of the remaining rebels in Aleppo.

Dozens Killed in Airstrikes in Idlib Province

Airstrikes possibly carried out by Russian aircraft have killed at least 73 people in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, Al Jazeera reported.

The airstrikes hit three different locations. Most of those who died were civilians, according to the U.K.-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In the village of Kafranbel, a witness reported six separate strikes that hit houses and a crowded market, killing at least 26 people. An additional 18 people were killed in airstrikes on the town of Maarat al-Numan. The Observatory also reported that six civilians, including four children, were killed in a Syrian government barrel bomb attack on the town of al-Tamanah.

Last month Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russian operations would begin to target Homs and Idlib provinces. Idlib province is largely controlled by a rebel alliance known as Jaish al-Fatah.

U.S. and U.K. Discuss Humanitarian Aid Airdrops

The United States and the United Kingdom have been in talks for months discussing airdrops to deliver medical supplies and food to besieged areas in Syria, the Guardian reported.

The wide range of possible delivery methods include parachute drops and edible drones that could be dismantled and eaten. Traditional airdrops have been ruled out because of the danger that anti-aircraft missiles would pose to low-flying aircraft.

The talks, which have recently stalled, were reportedly characterized by disagreement between government agencies.

News of the talks comes at a time when the need for aid in besieged areas, including the rebel-held area of eastern Aleppo, is becoming more desperate. All the hospitals in the rebel-held area of the city have been destroyed and the last aid convoy made its delivery five months ago.

A meeting to discuss humanitarian drones last week, headed by the British ambassador to the U.S., Kim Darroch, took place during intensifying air bombardment and ground actions against opposition forces in Aleppo.

The United Nations reports that there are more than 1 million Syrians living in besieged areas and in need of aid.

RECOMMENDED READS:

• Foreign Affairs: A Syria Policy for Trump
• Al Jazeera: Dodging Death in East Aleppo as a Journalist
• Foreign Policy: We Are All Accomplices to the Slaughter of Aleppo
• Syria Direct: Life in the Aftermath: A Wounded Homs City Struggles to Reconcile Its Past
• Al-Monitor: Congress Authorizes Trump to Arm Syrian Rebels With Anti-Aircraft Missiles