\n A Russian-declared ceasefire for opposition-held areas of Syria's second city Aleppo took effect on Friday, but hopes were low that civilians or rebels would heed calls to leave.\n<\/p>\n
\n Damascus ally Moscow said the 10-hour \"humanitarian pause\" was an attempt to \"prevent senseless casualties.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n But a similar, three-day pause last month ended with only a handful of people leaving the besieged rebel-held east of the city, and there was little sign many more would do so during Friday's brief ceasefire.\n<\/p>\n
\n Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been devastated by fighting since the rebels seized the east of the city in 2012, turning its historic heart into a battlefield.\n<\/p>\n
\n The army cut the last supply route from other rebel-held territory in July, leaving the more than 250,000 civilians still living in the east without access to deliveries of basic goods.\n<\/p>\n
\n The rebels launched a bid to break the siege last week, which they stepped up on Thursday.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rocket fire on government-held districts killed at least 12 people, state media said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The rebels captured the Dahiyet al-Assad neighbourhood and the village of Minyan outside west Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The latest deaths brought to nearly 70 the number of civilians killed in government-held areas since the rebel offensive began, the Britain-based monitoring group said.\n<\/p>\n
\n An AFP correspondent in east Aleppo said the front lines were quiet on Friday morning after fighting halted during the night.\n<\/p>\n
\n Moscow says the Syrian army has opened eight crossings on the front line for civilians to leave. Two of them can also be used by surrendering rebel fighters.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Russian defence ministry posted what it said were live feeds from three of the crossings.\n<\/p>\n
\n One showed barrels painted with the Syrian flag next to a large photograph of President Bashar al-Assad propped up by sandbags.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another showed waiting ambulances while the third -- which appeared to be filmed from a drone -- showed a line of green coaches.\n<\/p>\n
\n But expectations were low that civilians or rebel fighters would take the opportunity to leave.\n<\/p>\n
\n Civilians in the east, who have faced weeks of devastating bombardment by the government and its Russian ally, have expressed scepticism about the promises of safe passage.\n<\/p>\n
\n Moscow and Damascus accuse the rebels of preventing residents from leaving.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Cheap initiative' -\n<\/p>\n
\n The rebels dismissed the latest ceasefire as a ploy by Moscow to deflect international criticism of the high civilian death toll from its bombing campaign.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This announcement is worthless... We don't trust the Russians or any of their cheap initiatives,\" said Yasser al-Youssef, a politburo member of the Nureddin al-Zinki rebel brigade in Aleppo.\n<\/p>\n
\n The United Nations said it would not be attempting any medical evacuations from the rebel-held sector during Friday's ceasefire.\n<\/p>\n
\n UN agencies tried but failed to organise evacuation convoys during last month's pause.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The UN will not be involved in any way in the evacuation of civilians from east Aleppo related to this announcement,\" said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian office.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Medical evacuations can only take place if parties to the conflict take all the necessary measures to provide an enabling environment, which hasn't happened,\" he told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We remain very, very concerned about the humanitarian situation in east Aleppo. There have been no humanitarian supplies reaching the east of the city since early July.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Hundreds of people have been killed in the rebel-held sector since the army launched an offensive to recapture it in September.\n<\/p>\n
\n The death toll has drawn international condemnation of both Damascus and Moscow. The European Union said Russian actions \"may amount to war crimes\".\n<\/p>\n
\n More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict erupted with anti-government protests in March 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Russian-declared ceasefire for opposition-held areas of Syria's second city Aleppo took effect on Friday, but hopes were low that civilians or rebels would heed calls to leave. Damascus ally Moscow said the 10-hour \"humanitarian pause\" was an attempt to \"prevent senseless casualties.\" But a similar, three-day pause last month ended with only a handful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-30491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n