Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


New Aleppo Attack in Syria Kills at Least 23

by Ken Bredemeier

   A new aerial bombardment Monday in Syria flattened residential
   buildings in a rebel-controlled village in the northern province of
   Aleppo, killing at least 23 people.

   The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the
   hardest-hit area was in Qaterji, where rescuers were working to pull
   survivors from the rubble. The new deaths brought the 24-hour toll to
   45.

   In this photo released early Monday, Oct. 17, 2016 and provided by the
   Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, rescue workers
   try to remove a boy stuck in the debris of a building in the
   neighborhood of Qaterji in rebel-held east Aleppo.

   Both Syrian and Russian forces have been bombing rebel-held positions
   in Aleppo for weeks, as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attempts to
   regain control of the once-thriving city in the sixth year of the
   uprising against his government.

   One ambulance driver said that in the latest attack Russian aircraft
   targeted a five- or six-story building. He said dozens of people were
   pulled from the debris and that hospitals "are full of casualties."

   '
   Syria talks
   The bombardment came as world diplomats remain stymied in their efforts
   to end the Syrian fighting, which has claimed more than 300,000 lives.
   Several cease-fires in Syria have collapsed, including a recent
   Russian-U.S. truce plan. Moscow said Monday that peace talks could
   resume in Lausanne, Switzerland, modeled after Saturday talks between
   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei
   Lavrov, and foreign ministers from Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
   Turkey, Qatar and Jordan.

   Making a joint statement on Yemen, with left - right, US Secretary of
   State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and UN
   Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, at Lancaster House in
   London, Oct. 16, 2016.

   European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says the EU is
   not considering sanctioning Russia over its actions in Syria.

   "This has not been proposed by any member state," she told reporters
   Monday in Luxembourg.

   Mogherini said there are discussions about sanctions against members of
   the Assad government, and stressed the need for those who have an
   influence on the various players in the conflict to find a way to talk
   and seek solutions.

   Her comments came a day after Kerry warned of possible sanctions
   related to the situation in Syria and harshly criticized Russia's
   military actions there.

   Syria was a focus during his talks Sunday with British Foreign
   Secretary Boris Johnson and the Saturday meeting with Lavrov and the
   other diplomats.

   US outraged by devastation

   Kerry said Sunday the officials are disturbed and outraged by the
   devastation that has hit the northern city of Aleppo.

   "This is the largest humanitarian disaster since World War II," he
   said. "And it could stop tomorrow morning, tonight, if Russia and the
   Assad regime would behave according to any norm or any standard of
   decency. But they've chosen not to."

   Kerry said he and other diplomats have to exhaust every possibility to
   find a way to halt the fighting.

   "We're going to continue to work at this because no one has a right to
   just walk away and allow Aleppo to continue to be bombed without making
   every effort possible in order to stop it," he said.

   WATCH: Syrians Tell of IS Horrors After Fleeing Militant-held Town