Battle of Aleppo

It is a "disgrace" that the international community has been unable to alleviate the suffering in Syria's besieged city of Aleppo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Dec. 6, one day after Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a seven-day cease-fire in the city.

Syria's army advanced overnight deeper into east Aleppo where it now controls more than half of the former rebel stronghold after a fierce assault that has sparked an international outcry.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled eastern neighborhoods of the battered city since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime began its latest offensive in mid-November.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the grave situation in the Syrian city of Aleppo with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone on Nov. 30 for the third time in a week, with the two "agreeing on the need for a ceasefire," presidential sources said. 

The Syrian army and its allies announced the capture of a swathe of eastern Aleppo from rebels on Nov. 28 in an accelerating attack that threatens to crush the opposition in its most important urban stronghold. 

BELGRADE - Aleppo University is now in the frontline between Syrian army and opposition forces. Syrian students are trying to raise public and international awareness about civilian suffering and willing of the people to live in peace. For that they've organized an action in Aleppo in support of the Syrian army.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he is "not optimistic" about Syria's future, as the U.N. warned time is running out to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Aleppo which has been pounded by air strikes for nearly a week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 2 offered a new unilateral humanitarian pause for Syria's war-ravaged Aleppo, urging rebels to use it to leave the city's eastern, besieged districts. The Syrian rebels quickly dismissed Vladimir Putin's initiative.

Syria's army said on Oct. 31 that the Nusra Front and what the army called other terrorist groups had killed 84 people, mostly women and children, in Aleppo during the past three days, in a bombardment that included chemical weapons and rocket fire. 

Syrian state media said Oct. 30 that rebels had fired shells containing toxic gas into government-held parts of Aleppo, leaving dozens of people including civilians in need of treatment, while the rebels made gains in the city.

Syrian rebels began a counter-attack against the Syrian army and its allies on Oct. 28 aiming to break a weeks-long siege on eastern Aleppo, insurgents said.