Russia has announced it will not extend its unilateral "humanitarian pause," citing rebel attacks. Anti-government fighters said they would not trust Russia's "cheap initiatives" as they prepared for a new onslaught.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Faysal
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A Russia-declared ceasefire in Aleppo expired Friday evening with no sign that civilians or rebels used the so-called humanitarian corridors to exit the eastern part of the city.
"We did not record a single civilian or fighter leaving the eastern districts," said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which utilizes a nationwide network of on-the-ground informants.
The Russian defense ministry reported two servicemen had been wounded by rebel fire, while Syrian state media said a journalist for a pro-government broadcaster sustained injuries in a mortar attack from eastern Aleppo.
Moscow, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said it could not extend the "humanitarian pause" due to the latest assault by rebels, accusing them of using the temporary ceasefire to reinforce their positions.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/B. el Halabi
"This announcement is worthless … We don't trust the Russians or any of their cheap initiatives," said Yasser al-Youssef, a politburo member of a rebel brigade operating in the city.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the rebel-held districts of Aleppo since the Syrian military launched a Russian-backed offensive in September to retake the city, prompting the EU to warn Moscow that its actions "may amount to war crimes." However, the UN has also warned that rebel groups may have also committed war crimes. Both sides reject the UN's claims.
Civilians at risk
The UN said it had been unable to organize aid convoys to help the estimated 250,000 besieged citizens during a similar, longer ceasefire in October, and said that it did not attempt evacuations this time around.
"The UN will not be involved in any way in the evacuation of civilians from east Aleppo related to this announcement," David Swanson, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, told AFP news agency. "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."
More than 250,000 have been killed and half the population displaced since 2011, when Syrian government forces launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters calling for Assad to step down.
Photographer Yusuke Suzuki: Discovering the meaning of war
Japanese photographer Yusuke Suzuki has just received the Award for Young Emerging Talents at the Berlin Photo Biennial. To understand what war means, he traveled to Syria, Afghanistan and the Greek island of Lesbos.
Image: USK Photography
Total destruction
Photographer Yusuke Suzuki travelled over the Turkish border into Aleppo, in Syria. This picture in his series "City of Chaos" shows a once-lively shopping street. "When I arrived in Aleppo, I realized that there wasn't any water, gas, electricity, nor medicine, schools, jobs or baby milk here, he said.
Image: USK Photography
Bitterly cold
"As blankets were handed out, people were screaming to get one. No one had enough gas to heat and the winter was super cold," recalls Yusuke Suzuki, who took this picture in Aleppo in January.
Image: USK Photography
Friends
The Japanese photographer traveled to Syria with the help of a contact in the Free Syrian Army. They immediately became friends; thanks to him, Suzuki was warmly received among Syrian families. The photographer lived with the people in modest houses that were often already overcrowded with members of the extended family who had lost their own homes.
Image: USK Photography
Up on the front
The photographer accompanied the fighters of the Free Syrian Army to the front. "We often drank tea and they were joking around. Sometimes they'd even keep telling jokes when the first shots were fired at the front," Suzuki recalls. However, the mood would quickly change as shelling intensified. The photographer could feel he wasn't the only one to fear for his life.
Image: USK Photography
Desperate arrival
On the island of Lesbos, the Japanese photographer documented the refugee crisis. "Some 20 to 25 fully packed boats arrived every day," recalls Suzuki.
Image: USK Photography
What's next?
Yusuke Suzuki says he experienced "heartbreaking moments" on Lesbos. He didn't find it easy to shoot photos of the people's pain and despair. "But someone has to tell these stories," believes the photographer.
Image: USK Photography
First professional project in Afghanistan
In 2006, at the age of 21, Yusuke Suzuki traveled to Afghanistan for the first time and took his first professional photos there. The trip changed him: until then, Suzuki had planned on becoming a guitarist but decided to focus on photography instead.
Image: USK Photography
Everyday life in war-torn country
What did the young Japanese photographer know about war and peace? This is the question Yusuke Suzuki kept asking himself while travelling through Afghanistan. He discovered that everyday life was not only despair and destruction. He also captured its beauty.
Image: USK Photography
Award-winning photography
"I wanted to understand the meaning of war. I wanted to see, hear and feel how people manage to live with war," says Suzuki about his Afghanistan series. For his authentic reporting, Yusuke Suzuki has won the Berlin Photo Biennial Award for Young Emerging Talents.
