“Everybody that we’ve spoken with, when it comes to opposition activists and residents in the rebel-held areas of Aleppo, have told us that these humanitarian corridors have not been opened”, Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Jamjoom, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkish side of the Syria-Turkey border, said.
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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.
Civil defense volunteers carry a body after digging it out from under the rubble of a building that collapsed following a reported air strike on a rebel-held district in the northern city of Aleppo.
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.
US -led coalition targeting a village in northern Syria held by the Islamic State group killed at least 28 civilians, including seven children, Syrian activists said Friday.
U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, meanwhile, urged Russian Federation to let the United Nations take charge of the corridors.
Some families in besieged Aleppo have been allowed to leave the city after the government opened up a number of safe corridors.
Some of them have arrived in temporary shelters set up by the army in the western part of Aleppo, the report said.
But only a handful of Aleppo residents trickled out through one passage Friday, while others wanting to flee were turned back by rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
State television broadcast footage on Saturday showing civilians, mostly women and children, walking under the watch of government troops and boarding buses.
Earlier this week, the Syrian and Russian governments proposed to open humanitarian corridors leading from the besieged parts of Aleppo to government-controlled areas seen in the background here.
The opposition, however, condemned the initiative as an attempt to “alter Aleppo’s demographics and ensure forced displacement”, while Amnesty said it was “not a substitute for allowing impartial humanitarian relief for civilians. many of whom will be sceptical about government promises”.
About 300,000 people are trapped in rebel-held eastern Aleppo and the United Nations says food supplies are expected to run out in mid-August.
Some reports have said rebel groups are preventing civilians from leaving. Russian Federation also said four more humanitarian corridors would be opened to add to the three already functioning.
“The UN and humanitarian partners know what to do”.
Be clear – these “corridors” are not for getting aid in, but driving people out. “The brutal message to our people is – “leave or starve”, HNC member Bassma Kodmani said.
“We are taking a look at Russia’s announcement of humanitarian corridors, but given their record on this, we are skeptical to say the least”, said White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz at a briefing.
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The government recently seized the northern suburb of Bani Zeid after fierce fighting.
