"I would like to ask the Russian authorities and the government of Syria – please look in my eyes and the eyes of the world and of the public opinion – are you really ready to continue this…level of fighting using that type of weapons and de facto destroying the whole city – eastern city of Aleppo, ancient city of Aleppo with its own 275,000 people – for the sake of eliminating 1,000 al Nusra fighters? Or are you rather ready to announce an immediate and total aerial bombing halt if al Nusra leaves, and ensure that local administration in eastern Aleppo remains in place?" de Mistura said.
He added that if the military activities continued, thousands of civilians would be killed.
"So what may be happening [in case of] the bombing will continue: the bottom line is in maximum two months, 2.5 months the city of eastern Aleppo at this rate may be totally destroyed. We are talking about old city, in particular," de Mistura told reporters.
He added that if the military activities continued, thousands of civilians would be killed.
About 900 Jabhat Fatah al-Sham militants (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) are currently operating in Syria's Aleppo, according to some new estimates, Staffan de Mistura added.
"We have done a much more updated analysis of the al-Nusra reality in eastern Aleppo…I did refer to a figure, which was close to 50 percent, you must have heard it…Well, the [figures] based on more accurate estimates, which are also more up to date and which are never completely perfect, but are, in my opinion, quite reliable…We are talking now about a presence in eastern Aleppo of at maximum 900 people," de Mistura told reporters.
