MOSCOW (AP) — Russian and Syrian warplanes on Tuesday halted their airstrikes on Syria's besieged city of Aleppo in preparation for a temporary truce that Moscow has announced for later in the week, the Russian defense minister said.
According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the halt in the strikes should help pave way for militants to leave the eastern rebel-held parts of the contested city.
Both Russian and Syrian air raids on Aleppo were suspended on 10 a.m., Shoigu said, describing the suspension as a precursor for the opening of humanitarian corridors for the rebels to leave Aleppo on Thursday, for when Moscow has announced a "humanitarian pause" between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to allow civilians and militants safe passage out of the city.
At that time, Russian and Syrian militaries will desist from any offensive actions. Syrian rebels, including al-Qaida militants, as well as the wounded and the sick will be allowed to leave to the neighboring rebel-held province of Idlib.
"The early halting of airstrikes is necessary to declare a 'humanitarian pause'," Shoigu said in a televised statement. "It will ... guarantee a safe exit of civilians through six corridors and prepare for the evacuation of the ill and the wounded from the eastern part of Aleppo."
He added that Moscow is "asking the countries wielding influence with the rebels in the eastern part of Aleppo to persuade their leaders to end fighting and leave the city."
Shoigu added that the Syrian troops will pull back to distances allowing unimpeded exit for those carrying weapons via two corridors, including the main artery of Castello Road.
The Russian initiative also should boost talks between military experts from several nations that are set to open in Geneva on Wednesday, he added.
"Their work will be aimed first of all at separating the 'moderate opposition' from the terrorists and its withdrawal from the eastern part of Aleppo," he said. Russia, like the Syrian government, refers to militants in the Syrian conflict as "terrorists."
During a meeting over the weekend co-chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar said they would work to separate moderate opposition groups in Aleppo from the former al-Qaida affiliate in Syria once known as the Nusra Front.
A Russia-U.S.-brokered cease-fire collapsed last month as the Syrian army launched an offensive on the rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo under the cover of Russian warplanes.
Russian and Syrian officials have embraced a proposal made earlier this month by the U.N. Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, to allow al-Qaida-linked militants to leave Aleppo in exchange for truce and a local administration for the city's eastern districts. Rebels in the east, along with many residents, have rejected the offer.
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