Dozens of families have left the besieged opposition-held east of Syria’s Aleppo through newly created “humanitarian corridors”, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
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Russia’s United Nations ambassador, Alexei Borodavkin, said Moscow would “carefully study” Mistura’s comments and take them into account, RIA news agency reported, but he stopped short of promising to comply with them.
On Thursday, a Moscow said its forces and those of the Syrian government would open such passages outside the city and offer a way-out for fighters wanting to surrender.
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s government and its Russian allies declared a joint humanitarian operation for the besieged area on Thursday, bombarding it with leaflets telling fighters to surrender and civilians to leave.
A USA official told Reuters that the Syrian regime may intend to arrest and punish people who attempt to use the corridors, claiming they are armed rebels or “terrorists” trying to escape the city.
“Any initiative that can successfully give civilians some respite from the ongoing and indiscriminate violence, and allows them to voluntarily leave for safer areas, would be much welcomed”, said Mardini.
Also on Friday, in the neighboring northern province of Idlib, the charity Save the Children said a maternity hospital it supports in the opposition-held area had been bombed, with casualties reported.
It showed pictures of people, mostly women and children, walking past soldiers and getting onto buses.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that civilians were using a corridor in Salahaddin to enter government-controlled districts. “We suffered a lot in order to be able to come here”. Making the announcement, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura noted that this is the core of the UN’s job.
Aleppo has been roughly divided between government and rebels in the east since mid-2012, and the front line runs through several neighbourhoods including Salaheddine.
Ghaith Yaqout Al Murjan, an activist in Aleppo told Reuters civilians were avoiding the corridors as they were still unsafe: “There are people who want to leave because they can no longer bear the shelling by helicopters, jets, barrel bombs”.
“But we also remain committed to the proposals reached by the United States and Russian Federation to better enforce the cessation of hostilities in Syria and provide the space needed for a resumption of political talks”. “In the areas of those humanitarian corridors we have equipped stations with hot food and medical assistance”.
De Mistura called on Russian Federation to hand administration of the humanitarian corridors over to the United Nations, as German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Moscow to establish a ceasefire.
He said that if the United Nations allows residents to travel safely to other opposition held-areas, this could reassure people that it is safe to leave, reducing casualty numbers.
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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov denied allegations that Russia and Syria are preparing to storm Syria’s Aleppo after clearing civilians out of the city under the guise of a humanitarian operation.
