A convoy of humanitarian aid waits in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) offices before making their way into the government besieged rebel-held towns of Madaya, al-Zabadani and al-Moadhamiya in the Damascus countryside, as part of a U.N.-sponsored aid operation, in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. A similar convoy is headed to the villages of Foua and Kfraya in the northern Idlib province, which are besieged by rebels. The convoys represent the third humanitarian aid delivery to the besieged communities after two similar efforts last month. (Associated Press)
By Associated Press February 17 at 8:15 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria — The Latest on the civil war in Syria (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is renewing her proposal for a no-fly zone in Syria, saying it could be done by an agreement between Syrian President Bashar Assad, his backers and the coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters Wednesday that Merkel’s suggestion came in the context of what was agreed upon in Munich, that a humanitarian corridor should be established to deliver aid to Syrian civilians, and hostilities should cease, hopefully in the next day or two.
Spokesman Martin Schaefer says “If both can be implemented, then that will be the basis to protect the people who are on the Turkish border, maybe 40,000 to 70,000, from attacks from the air and on the ground.”
He gave no further details, however, on how such a no-fly zone would function.
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2:50 p.m.
Turkey’s president responded angrily to calls for his country to halt its cross-border shelling of Kurdish positions in Syria, saying Ankara “has no such plans.”
Addressing local officials Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said Turkey would not allow the Syrian Kurdish forces to establish a stronghold at the Syrian-Turkish border.
Turkey regards the Syrian Kurdish forces as a terror group because of their links to its own outlawed Kurdish rebels who are internationally recognized as a terrorist organization.
Turkey has been shelling Kurdish Syrian forces since Saturday, saying it has been responding to provocations. The United States and others have called on Turkey to hold its fire. Erdogan insisted Wednesday that Turkey’s shelling was “self-defense.”
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2 p.m.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is renewing her proposal for a no-fly zone in Syria, saying that it could be done by agreement between President Bashar Assad, his backers and the coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
Merkel said that such an agreement would be “a sign of goodwill” and would put many people at ease. She first aired her idea in an interview published Monday, without giving details.
At a news conference Wednesday, Merkel said it would be a good sign if “an agreement between Assad and his supporters and the anti-IS coalition” could produce a commitment to “set up a kind of no-fly zone in which there is no bombing, in which civilians are not pressured and killed” in the area between Aleppo and the Turkish border.
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1 p.m.
A senior Russian diplomat has shrugged off German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s proposal to consider a no-fly zone over Syria, saying it can only be done with Damascus’ consent.
Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said in remarks carried by the Interfax news agency Wednesday that any no-fly zone would need to be approved by the Syrian government and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.
Gatilov’s statement comes as Russian warplanes continue to strike militant positions around Aleppo in support of a Syrian army offensive. Russia has said that it will continue to strike extremists in Syria despite a planned truce.
Merkel said in an interview published Monday that it would be “helpful” if there were areas where no side would carry out aerial bombardments — “a kind of no-fly zone.”
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11:30 a.m.
Trucks destined for besieged areas in Syria are being loaded with humanitarian aid, part of an agreement between the Syrian government and the U.N.’s Syria envoy.
The Syrian foreign ministry hit back Wednesday against envoy Staffan de Mistura, who said the deliveries were a “test” of the Syrian government’s commitment. A statement said “we do not wait for anyone to remind us of our duties toward our people.”
Still, the convoys appeared to be preparing to head to besieged areas Wednesday.
The U.N. said the government of President Bashar Assad had approved access to seven besieged areas across the country and that convoys would head out in the coming days.
The U.N. estimates that 18 Syrian communities are besieged, affecting around half a million people.
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