PHOTO: French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at an EU meeting in Brussels on Monday (Reuters)


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UPDATE 1730 GMT: White Helmets civil defense volunteers respond to one of the airstrikes on eastern Aleppo city:


UPDATE 1120 GMT: Reports are gathering of renewed Russian bombing of besieged opposition-held eastern Aleppo, including the neighborhoods of al-Haydaria, Sakhour, Firdous, and Masakan Hanano.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said a naval combat group, including the flagship aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, had begun “combat operations”. Missions included flights by Su-33 jet fighters.

The aircraft carrier and other ships with missiles deployed in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast last week.

Shoigu did not acknowledge the attacks on Aleppo, saying instead:

Today at 10:30 and 11:00 we launched a large-scale operation against the positions of Islamic State and al-Nusra [the jihadist group Jabhat Fatah al-Sham in the provinces of Idlib and Homs.

The main objectives of these strikes are ammunition warehouses and terrorist training centers, as well as plants for the production of various kinds of weapons of mass destruction.

Smoke rises from one of the airstrikes on eastern Aleppo city:

Russia and the Assad regime attacked the area between September 19 and October 18, killing more than 600 civilians. Facing international political pressure, Moscow then suspended operations over eastern Aleppo, while continuing its bombing elsewhere.

The resumption came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with US President-elect Donald Trump by phone.

Regime helicopters are also in action, barrel-bombing areas like Kafrzita in northern Hama Province:


ORIGINAL ENTRY: The European Union has extended its sanctions on Syria’s Assad regime, freezing the assets of Finance Minister Maamoun Hamdan, Central Bank head Duraid Durgham, and 16 other ministers.

The EU decision on Monday also prohibited traveled within Europe by the 18 men.

EU diplomats said the blacklist, adding to the existing ban on transactions with the Central Bank and an oil and arms embargo, is to further limit the regime’s ability to obtain finance for a crippled economy.

However, the EU avoided any action against Russia, following the verbal condemnation of Moscow and the Assad regime for airstrikes on opposition-held parts of Aleppo city that killed more than 600 civilians between September 19 and October 18.

Last month Italy and other members prevented any implementation of restrictions on the Russians.

Syria Daily, Oct 21: EU Divided Over Sanctions v. Russia

The EU sanctions list on the Assad regime now punishes 234 people and 69 companies and institutions for “repression against the civilian population in Syria.”


Airstrikes Knock Out Bakery Serving 150,000 People in Idlib Province

Pro-Assad airstrikes have destroyed a bread oven serving 150,000 people in southern Idlib Province in northwest Syria.

The attacks on Friday disabled the Sinjar Oven, which produced 12,000 kilos of bread every day and served 74 nearby towns and villages.

Only three small bakeries now remain in the area around Sinjar, and none is machine-operated.

Local authorities lack the funds to rebuild the factory, a council spokesman said, and repairs “which would take a long time even with proper funds, due to the extensive damage.”

“For three days now, we’ve been relying on leftover bread,” Abu Mohammad, a displaced father of six from Hama, said on Monday.

“We’re already all out of rice and bulgur wheat, and I have no idea how much longer this will go on,” he said. “Now, even a loaf of bread is hard to come by.”


Video: Cleric al-Moheisini Responds to US Sanctions Over “Support of Terrorism”

The Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Moheisini, prominent among Syrian rebels since 2013, has responded to last week’s imposition of US sanctions on him.

As the Obama Administration confirmed its campaign to kill leaders of the jihadists of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), the US Treasury said al-Moheisini was providing essential support to JFS/Nusra.

Surrounded by local men and boys, the cleric responded:

My conscience did not allow me to just watch [the Assad regime’s killing of civilians] and remain with my family and children, so I came here to Syria. I have now been here for three years with these people, sharing in their happiness and sadness and living with their concerns and victories. I loved the people of Syria and they loved me.


Putin to Trump: We Need to Fight “International Terrorism” in Syria

Congratulating US President-elect Donald Trump on his surprise victory, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the two sides need to combine efforts in the fight against “international terrorism and extremism” in Syria, according to the Kremlin.

The Kremlin sttement said Putin and Trump agreed to continue phone contact and to plan a personal meeting in the future.

Trump’s office did not refer to Syria in a briefer summary: “During the call, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical US-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years.”

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov maintained pressure on the Obama Administration with Moscow’s line that “terrorists” are in control of opposition-held eastern Aleppo city:

More:
http://tass.com/politics/912272


Russia-Regime Bomb 2 More Hospitals in Aleppo Province on Monday

Russian-regime bombing struck two more hospitals in Aleppo Province on Monday, injuring patients and damaging the facilities.

The hospital in Atareb was hit for the fourth time this year. Five airstrikes on the hospital destroyed operations and waiting rooms and damaged ambulances.

The hospital was the only one for at least 60,000 people in and near the town.

Warplanes also disabled the Ansar hospital in Kafrnaha, 15 km (10 miles) from Atareb, in the third airstrike on the facility in the past month.

Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society said there have been seven attacks on hospitals in rural districts of Aleppo and Idlib Provinces since Friday.

The Russian attacks have included “bunker-buster” bombs to hit underground hospitals.

Russia and the Assad regime have destroyed or damaged scores of hospitals, clinics, civil defense centers, drug warehouses, and blood banks in attacks since September 2015.

Destruction of the hospital in Orem al-Kubra, west of Aleppo:

A school in Atareb, destroyed by Russian attacks: