MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. Militants have shelled the Syrian city of Aleppo 48 times over the past 24 hours, eleven people have been killed and 30 others wounded, Chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria Major-General Yuri Borenkov said on Friday.
"Illegal armed groups launched new attacks against the government forces’ positions west of Aleppo. A detachment consisting of up to 70 militants backed by four pickup trucks with heavy machine guns attempted to drive the Syrian troops from their positions south of the Binyamin area. The attack was foiled by tanks and small arms fire, with militants retreating to their initial positions. After the failure, illegal armed groups launched a massive bombardment of the city’s peaceful neighborhoods. Over the past 24 hours, illegal armed groups have shelled Aleppo 48 times, killing eight civilians, 22 others, including women and children, were wounded. Three Syrian military servicemen were killed, eight others were wounded," he said.
Borenkov noted that an unprecedented number of artillery bombardments had been recorded in the Idlib de-escalation zone over the past 24 hours, adding that in the Latakia, Idlib and Hama provinces their number reached 115.
The Russian Reconciliation Center had conducted one humanitarian operation in the al-Hasakah province distributing 250 food packages to residents, he went on to say. A total of 2,344 humanitarian operations have been conducted since the beginning of the reconciliation process.
The Aleppo province is part of the northwestern de-escalation zone where hostilities and operations involving aircraft were terminated on January 9 as agreed with Turkey.
Liberation of Aleppo
In the summer of 2016, the Syrian army launched a large-scale operation to liberate Aleppo from militants. In October, Russia initiated the establishment of humanitarian corridors out of the city, but militants shelled the area preventing civilians from leaving Aleppo. Officers of the Russian Reconciliation Center helped people exit the city at night. Syrian troops started an offensive in November 2016, and on December 16, the Russian General Staff announced that Aleppo had been fully liberated. Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the operation to free Aleppo as the biggest humanitarian mission in modern history.