“Given that our American partners didn’t provide data on disengagement between Jabjat al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army, we will create a fourth corridor north of Aleppo towards the Castello Road for safe passage of armed rebels”, Shoygu said.
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At the same time, Russian Federation said it had launched a “large-scale humanitarian operation” together with the Syrian government around the battered city of Aleppo to open humanitarian corridors for civilians and fleeing fighters. Humanitarian groups warned of a major catastrophe if the siege on the rebel-held parts of Aleppo continued.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday that the Russian and Syrian militaries would start “a large-scale humanitarian operation” in Aleppo to help residents “who had become hostages of terrorists”.
Mohammad Olabi also announced the opening of three corridors for residents to flee the besieged rebel-held neighborhoods in the east of the city, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported – although it made no mention of a fourth corridor for surrendering rebels.
“Most of the men – everyone here – is wanted by the regime”, said Haj.
“We still hope to receive from our USA colleagues the coordinates of areas where units of the Free Syrian Army are stationed and information about a typical unit of moderate opposition – what weapons and equipment they usually have, including the number of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, artillery systems”, Shoigu said.
“The city is de-facto besieged, because it is nearly completely militarily encircled”, said de Mistura, adding there were only two to three weeks of supplies left.
Capitalizing on their push in battles over the past days, Assad’s forces on Thursday took the Bani Zeid neighbourhood on the northern edge of the Aleppo from the rebels as part of a steady advance meant to tighten the siege.
The amnesty offer was issued through a decree today and offered a way out for opposition fighters.
Once an economic hub, Aleppo and surrounding countryside has suffered some of the worst fighting in the five-year conflict that has killed more than 280,000 people.
Syrian regime forces and their allies have completely surrounded the main rebel enclave in the city of Aleppo and are urging the rebel fighters there to surrender.
Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Defense Minister, informed that Moscow sends its experts to Geneva.
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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.
