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Syrian government forces attack rebels near Aleppo, talks to convene

01 February 2016 21:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Syrian rebels fought back against an offensive by government forces near a supply route into the city of Aleppo on Monday and said there had been no letup in Russian air strikes, despite a promise of goodwill moves by Damascus to spur peace talks, APA reports quoting Reuters.

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura was due later on Monday to meet Syrian opposition groups in Geneva, hoping to launch indirect peace talks after five years of war that has killed 250,000 people. A meeting with the government delegation was postponed because de Mistura had first to meet the opposition.

De Mistura pressed on with peace efforts as the death toll from an Islamic State suicide attack near Damascus climbed to more than 70 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The attack targeted a government-held neighborhood that is home to Syria's holiest Shi'ite shrine.

The Geneva peace talks mark the first attempt in two years to hold negotiations over Syria, whose war has drawn in regional and international powers and forced millions from their homes and into neighboring states and Europe.

The opposition to President Bashar al-Assad agreed late on Friday to travel to Geneva after saying they had received guarantees to improve the situation on the ground, such as a detainee release and a halt to attacks on civilian areas.

But the opposition says there has been no easing of the conflict since then, with government and allied forces including Iranian militias pressing offensives across important areas of western Syria, most recently north of Aleppo.

It is the first big government offensive for nearly a year in the Aleppo area, which controls access to opposition-held areas of the city from Turkey, a sponsor of the insurgency.

"The attack started at 2 a.m., with air strikes and missiles," said rebel commander Ahmed al-Seoud, describing the situation near Aleppo, parts of which are controlled by the government and parts are in opposition hands.

Seoud told Reuters his Free Syrian Army group had sent reinforcements to the area near the village of Bashkoy.

"We took guarantees from America and Saudi to enter the negotiations ... (but) the regime has no goodwill and has not shown us any goodwill," he said from nearby Idlib province.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces were gaining ground in the area, and had captured most of the village of Duweir al-Zeitun near Bashkoy. It reported dozens of air strikes on Monday morning and Syrian state television said government forces were advancing.