“Given the fact that our American counterparts have not provided intelligence about the Nusra Front and Syrian Free Army squads (we) will create a fourth corridor for a safe exist with weapons in the north of Aleppo in the direction of the Castello highway”, he said.
Advertisement
“Aleppo residents are in distress and mistrustful, which is understandable, as the Syrian tragedy has shown that even humanitarianism is often used as a cynical ploy to advance geopolitical interests”, said Bitar, from the French think-tank IRIS.
“That’s our job”, he said.
“In this context, the idea of “humanitarian corridors” consisting of asking Aleppo’s residents to leave the city does not offer a credible response to the situation”, the ministry said in a statement.
The Manbij area has seen extensive battles between IS extremists and US -backed Kurdish-led fighters, who have been advancing under the cover of airstrikes by the USA -led coalition.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said: “On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, today, [we will] start a large-scale humanitarian operation together with the Syrian government to help civilians in Aleppo”.
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the war broke out in 2011, has been a major battleground in conflict, with rebel groups holding neighborhoods in the east of the city for years.
“Why would you evacuate a city that you wanted to send humanitarian aid to?” one anonymous United States official asked Reuters.
Government aircraft bombed eastern areas of Aleppo overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, without specifying casualties.
Ibrahim Abu al-Laith, from Aleppo’s Syria Civil Defense, a search-and-rescue organization that operates in opposition-held Syria, said that to his knowledge the three corridors were not yet open.
“In Aleppo, getting civilians to leave would both serve its propaganda and its military objectives”, said Emile Hokayem, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, said this week that he hoped to convene a third round of Syrian peace talks toward the end of August.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered amnesty to rebels who give up their weapons and surrender to authorities within the next three months.
Meanwhile, the observatory said the Islamic State group had executed at least 24 civilians after seizing the village of Buyir, close to the northern town of Manbij, from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, speaks about the International Syria Support Group’s Humanitarian Access Task Force, at the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, July 28, 2016.
“The pro-Assad coalition’s assault on Aleppo will force unity between the rebellion and the jihadists: in life-and-death situations people will take protection from wherever they can get it”, said Kyle Orton, a Middle East analyst at the Henry Jackson Society think-tank. Assad has previously offered amnesty to rebels or deserters, and commuted sentences for various offenses.
“How can the person who has been bombing civilians set up humanitarian corridors for them?”
All parties are also obligated to facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need.
Advertisement
The letter from Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari to the U.N. Security Council said the Syrian government has also “allocated temporary accommodation” for those who leave and is keen “to provide them with their livelihood needs”.
