REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MOSCOW -- Russia said on Wednesday there would be daily three-hour ceasefires in Syria's Aleppo starting Thursday to allow humanitarian convoys to enter the city safely, a proposal which the United Nations said it would

consider.

Aleppo is split into rebel and government controlled areas. The rebel-held east, where about 250,000 people are thought to be living, came under siege in early July after government forces cut the Castello Road, the main supply route into the district.

Last Friday rebels staged a major assault southwest of Aleppo to break this siege. Rebel fighters did manage to pierce the ring of government-controlled territory, but a safe corridor for civilians and aid has not yet been established as fierce fighting continues.

Speaking at a televised briefing, Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi, a senior Russian Defence Ministry official, said the pause in fighting would run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. Rudskoi said the question of joint control over delivery of humanitarian aid via Castello Road was being discussed with the United Nations and the United States.

He said all military action, air and artillery strikes would be halted for the three-hour periods. "This is to ensure that all interested organisations have the opportunity to deliver their humanitarian assistance to the residents of Aleppo," Rudskoi said.

He added that Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels in Syria's five-year-old civil war, would work with Damascus to ensure safe delivery of the aid. A spokesman for a major rebel group fighting inside Aleppo told Reuters it was sceptical of the Russian plan.

"Is this publicity that Russia is a neutral party? What is three hours? In those three hours they will just be bombing (rebel-held) Idlib!", said Abd al-Salaam Abd al-Razzaq, military spokesman for the Nour al Din al-Zinki insurgent group.

Air strikes killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens in rebel-held Idlib province, southwest of Aleppo, on Wednesday. One Idlib town, Saraqeb, has received daily heavy air strikes since a Russian helicopter was shot down nearby 10 days ago.

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