Syria Agrees 'To Halt' Airstrikes In Aleppo

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The Syrian regime will end airstrikes on targets in Aleppo to test if a ceasefire in the city can be developed, a UN official has said.

The United Nations envoy to the country said he had been given a commitment there would be a suspension of bombing for six weeks.

Staffan de Mistura said no timeframe had yet been set but he would soon be returning to Syria to discuss the plan further.

He said the development provided a glimmer of hope for the devastated city.

He told reporters: "The government of Syria has indicated to me its willingness to halt all aerial bombing."

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Gallery: Jan 2015: The Battle For Aleppo

Aleppo has been one of the cities at the centre of Syria's civil war since it began in early 2011. Here a man carries a wounded girl after an airstrike by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad

A bus blocks a road amid damage on the Salah Al-Din neighbourhood frontline

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People walk amid the rubble of collapsed buildings at a site hit during a barrel bomb attack by Assad forces in the Al-Fardous neighbourhood

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Members of the Civil Defence rescue children after an airstrike in the al-Shaar neighbourhood

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A fighter from the Tawhid Brigade, which operates under the Free Syrian Army, fires an anti-tank missile at Assad forces

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"Assurances will not be enough," he added. "Facts on the ground will prove if the freeze holds and can be replicated elsewhere."

Mr de Mistura said the UN would try to engage with the opposition, with a view to them also de-escalating the fighting.

He said: "Let's be frank, I have no illusions, because based on past experiences this will be a difficult issue to be achieved.

"But we will engage ... the opposition, hopefully to see them ... respond to a similar request from the UN to halt mortar and rockets."

He said he had a "dim" hope the plan would work and civilian lives could be saved while political negotiations continue over an end to the country's civil war.

Aleppo is divided into a rebel-held western area and government-controlled east.

Mr de Mistura wants to set up a UN-monitored "freeze zone" that would stop violence around the front line to allow humanitarian aid to enter and act as the first step towards a wider solution.

But Aleppo-based opposition groups have expressed fears the government will try to exploit a truce to move its forces elsewhere to fight, and have questioned how a ceasefire could work with Islamic State fighters in the area.

Mr de Mistura is the third in a series of UN envoys tasked with trying to find an end to the conflict.

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