UN Urges Temporary Ceasefire in Aleppo

The UN humanitarian chief urged all combatants in Aleppo, which has been under siege for many months, to agree to a 48-hour ceasefire to allow delivery of desperately needed aid. Stephen O’Brien said that Aleppo is being bombed every day, and has become “the apex of horror” in “the greatest crisis of our time.” He said that if aid does not reach Aleppo soon the world risks seeing a “humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed” in Syria. An estimated 300,000 civilians are still in Aleppo and have been caught in attacks by both rebel groups and an intensive bombing campaign by troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The five-year-old civil war in Syria shows no sign of ending. Human rights groups say that over 400,000 people have been killed and millions have become refugees.