Up to 20,000 people are already massed at the Turkish border, according to the United Nations – but so far, they haven’t been allowed to cross.
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A Red Cross spokesman told the French news agency AFP on Saturday that aid delivery access to Aleppo was “difficult”.
Thousands of Syrians were braving cold and rain at the Turkish border Saturday after fleeing a Russian-backed regime offensive on Aleppo that threatens a fresh humanitarian disaster in the country’s second city.
In a televised speech Friday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu promised that Turkey would not leave the displaced “without food or shelter” but did not say whether the country meant to let them in.
Much of Aleppo, including a UNESCO heritage old city, is largely in ruins.
“On top of that, this support that the European Union is providing to Turkey… is aimed exactly at guaranteeing that Turkey has the means, the instruments, the resources to protect and to host people seeking asylum”, Mogherini said. The charity runs about 10 camps for displaced Syrians along the frontier.
“The Russian (air) cover continues night and day, there were more than 250 air strikes on this area in one day”, Hassan Haj Ali, head of Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, a rebel group fighting in northwest Syria, told Reuters.
In the tangled sectarian and political rifts of Syria, Ryder said that Aleppo essentially was not an immediate concern for the USA military, since the opposition group defenders were battling the Assad regime and not ISIS.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said Revolutionary Guard Corps Brigadier-General Mohsen Ghajarian has been killed in Aleppo province, as had six Iranian volunteer militiamen.
“Any ground intervention in Syria, without the consent of the Syrian government, will be considered an aggression that should be resisted by every Syrian citizen”, he said.
Iran, a longtime ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, acknowledges that Iranian officers are providing an advisory role in Syria, but denies sending combat troops. A number of Iranians have been killed in recent months, including several high-ranking commanders.
The Observatory estimates 40,000 people have fled the regime offensive near Aleppo.
They are fleeing a Syrian government offensive on rebel-held positions near the northern city of Aleppo.
Russian planes are also targeting hospitals and returning to bomb people rescuing those wounded in earlier air strikes, he added.
Russian Federation has accused Turkey of “preparations for an armed invasion” of Syria, a claim that Ankara has dismissed.
Turkey stressed on Saturday afternoon that it is committed to the principle of “open borders” for refugees, although it remains unclear whether the large numbers of people stranded on the Syrian side have been able to cross. At the same time, the Russian Defence Ministry says they also have evidence of weapons being supplied to terrorists from Turkey at night.
A Syrian family who fled bombing in Aleppo is seen in a tent which was distributed by the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. The women and children were thrown to the ground.
Since Syria’s war erupted nearly five years ago, Turkey has had an “open-door policy” for refugees, now hosting more than 2.5 million. The Syrian army announced the taking of the town of Attaman in the southern province of Dara’a putting the army closer into securing the contested provincial capital of the border province in Jordan.
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On Friday, OCHA spokeswoman Linda Tom said the Aleppo fighting had disrupted major aid and supply routes from the Turkish border. But still there are many civilians there.
