Up to 6,000 Gunmen Trying to Attack Eastern Aleppo: Zakharova

MOSCOW- About 6,000 gunmen are trying to fight their way through towards eastern Aleppo, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

“The most serious situation in Syria is still around Aleppo,” the diplomat said, adding that terrorists attacking from southwest continue their attempts to force a corridor towards eastern neighborhoods of the city, Itar Tass reported.

“According to different estimates, up to 6,000 gunmen are engaged in the operation, the tactical direction carried out by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (former Jabhat al-Nusra) through the central headquarters,” she said.

 The diplomat drew attention to close coordination of Nusra terrorists with other anti-governmental units in Hama and the Damascus countryside areas. “Everywhere, terrorists are facing resolute rebuff,” Zakharova said.

Russia-US deal on Syria

Zakharova went on to say that the Russian-US agreement on Syria remains in force and no one has abolished it, and the work needs to be continued.

“We fully meet all commitments as part of the Syria Support Group, the UN Security Council and bilateral agreements with the US on this issue,” Zakharova noted.

“As for the contacts, it is not through our fault that there has been no more telephone conversations,” she said. “Requests have come from the US about three times, but they were then cancelled by Americans themselves. Our telephones are functioning,” Zakharova added.

H.M