Russia announces 48-hour ceasefire in Syria’s Aleppo

Russia’s defence ministry announced late Wednesday that a 48-hour ceasefire had been introduced, starting from Thursday, to help stabilise the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo.

“On Russia’s initiative, a ‘regime of silence’ has been introduced in Aleppo for 48 hours from 00:01 16 June (2100 GMT Wednesday) with the goal of lowering the level of armed violence and stabilising the situation,” a ministry statement said.

The statement did not specify who Russia has discussed the two-day ceasefire with.

It accused Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra front of attacking various Aleppo neighbourhoods with multiple rocket launchers, as well as mounting a tank attack southwest of the city.

The last-minute announcement, made just an hour before the ceasefire was to go into effect, came as US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia and the Syrian regime to respect a frayed ceasefire that has been severely tested around divided Aleppo.

Russia provides air support to troops loyal to the Syrian regime as they fight the Syrian rebels and jihadists.

Since fighting erupted Tuesday south of Aleppo, some 70 fighters in total have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A hospital in eastern Aleppo was heavily damaged by bombing Tuesday, the Medecins du Monde charity said.