TOPSHOT - Syrian Hadi Mustafa Habbush (Habboush), 9, brother of 13-year-old Jameel who was also rescued a day earlier from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes, looks on as he lies on a hospital bed in the rebel-held northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, on October 12, 2016.
On October 11 an AFP photographer at the scene said rescuers heard Jameel Habbush shouting under the rubble and began digging towards him and worked to free him. - AFP 

ALEPPO: Overwhelmed rescue workers combed rubble for victims of intense air strikes on Syria's battleground city Aleppo yesterday, ahead of fresh diplomatic efforts to end the country's intractable conflict. The United States and Russia, which support opposite sides in the five-year war, will meet in Switzerland today to try to resurrect the peace process. Moscow has faced swelling international criticism over its backing for President Bashar Al-Assad's onslaught in divided Aleppo, including Western accusations of possible war crimes.

Violence has continued unabated in the northern city, once Syria's commercial hub but now ravaged by Russian and regime air strikes in support of a major government offensive against rebels. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, said Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded opposition-controlled eastern districts again on Friday, though it did not have any immediate information on casualties.

The intensified bombardment has put a severe strain on rescue workers and medical staff in east Aleppo, home to an estimated 250,000 residents under siege. "This recent escalation has been huge and we've had a lot of work," said Ibrahim Abu Al-Leith, a spokesman for the White Helmets rescue force in Aleppo. "The civil defence team hasn't slept in four days because of the bombardment on the eastern neighborhoods. Even our machines are exhausted," he told AFP. He said rescuers were still working to dislodge people from under the rubble in the Tariq al-Bab eastern district.

Bleeding to Death

AFP's correspondent in east Aleppo said some people had been stuck under the rubble for at least two days as strained White Helmets teams scrambled between neighborhoods. Rescue workers have been afraid to work at night, fearing that the large floodlights would attract warplanes circling overhead. Some people trapped under collapsed buildings bled to death after White Helmets teams were unable to reach them in time.

Since the collapse last month of a truce brokered by Washington and Moscow, Aleppo has been engulfed by some of the worst violence of the conflict. More than 370 people, including nearly 70 children, have been killed in regime and Russian bombardment of east Aleppo since the regime's assault began on Sept 22, the Observatory said. Dozens of civilians, including children, have also died in rebel bombardment of regime-controlled western districts, according to the monitor, which compiles its information from sources on the ground.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are expected to hold fresh talks to try to revive the ceasefire deal in Lausanne today. UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura will attend, along with the chief diplomats from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar - all backers of Syrian opposition forces. Then in London on Sunday, Kerry will likely meet up with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany. Lavrov spoke Thursday with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault, despite tensions over Syria that prompted President Vladimir Putin to cancel a trip to Paris.

Idlib Next Target

In an interview with Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid published yesterday, Assad said he would use a victory in Aleppo as a "springboard" to capture other rebel strongholds. "It's going to be the springboard, as a big city, to move to another areas, to liberate another areas from the terrorists," he said. He indicated that his next target could be northwestern Idlib province, held by an alliance of rebels and jihadists including the Fateh al-Sham Front, which changed its name from Al-Nusra Front when it cut ties with Al-Qaeda. "You have to keep cleaning this area and to push the terrorists to Turkey to go back to where they come from, or to kill them. There's no other option," Assad said.

Putin yesterday approved a law ratifying his deal with Syria, first signed in Aug 2015, to establish Russia's Hmeimim airbase to launch pro-regime operations. Russia has long provided political and financial support to Syria and began its bombing campaign there in Sept 2015. Moscow offered on Thursday to "ensure the safe withdrawal" of rebel groups and civilians from eastern Aleppo. There was no immediate response from the rebels.

Near Damascus, more than 1,200 people including rebel fighters and their families were bussed out of the towns of Qudsaya and Al-Haamah on Thursday under a local deal with the government. They were transported northwest to Idlib province. "We know what they are doing. They want to turn Idlib into a Gaza in Syria," one civilian in his 50s told AFP as his bus pulled into Idlib. - AFP