France, UK, US Call Emergency UN Security Council Meeting Over Aleppo Violence

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — An urgent UN Security Council meeting has been called to address the escalating violence in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, according to US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power who referred to a message from New Zealand's UN Mission.

According to media reports, the meeting has been scheduled for 10 a.m.

Fighting in Aleppo intensified after the Syrian army declared an end to the week-long ceasefire on Friday, blaming militants for numerous violations that made the cessation of hostilities unreasonable.

Earlier on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Aleppo had faced the most intense airstrikes since the start of the Syrian conflict, expressing dismay at the situation and the fate of civilians trapped in the city.

On September 9, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov brokered a ceasefire in Syria that took effect three days later. The agreement called for unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid and stipulated that only designated terror groups would be targeted in military strikes.

Aleppo has been under siege by militant groups, including Jaish al-Islam, Ahrar ash-Sham and Jabhat Fatah al Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front. The city has seen intense fighting over the past few months, with the Syrian army and local militia forces managing to encircle large groups of militants in the eastern districts of the city.