Russia, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, announced Thursday the opening of humanitarian passages for civilians and surrendering fighters seeking to exit the city’s rebel-held eastern neighborhoods.
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Syria’s state news agency SANA said the residents later boarded buses and were transported to government-run shelters on the western side of Aleppo.
The rebel-held side of the city has been effectively under government siege since July 7, when regime forces advanced to within firing range of the only remaining supply route to opposition neighbourhoods.
In addition, 69 rebels have laid down arms and 59 people received medical treatment, the ministry said.
We are still waiting for more information, Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told journalists in Geneva, referring to Russias proposal to establish several so-called exit corridors that would allow for the distribution of food, as well as provide an opportunity for civilians to flee Aleppo and wider humanitarian challenges throughout the war-torn country.
According to Tasnim dispatches, the first batch of civilians, including a huge number of women and children, left Aleppo from the eastern neighborhoods of the city.
“The regime, Iran and Russian Federation should have stopped the aerial raids if they have the smallest concern for humanity”, one resident said.
The United Nations has raised misgivings about the plan and the Syrian opposition is deeply distrustful, believing it is a government ploy created to clear civilians out of Aleppo so that the definitive battle for control of the city, once Syria’s commercial centre, can begin.
Due to the lack of aid, worldwide agencies have warned that the residents risk starvation.
We were not allowed to leave.
Also on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, a UK-based activist group, reported government air strikes on two rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Aleppo. The group said the hospital was damaged and there were initial reports of casualties.
A Syrian opposition umbrella group has accused Russian Federation of disguising its assault on northern Syria’s Aleppo province with promises of opening humanitarian corridors in the region.
“These corridors are not for getting aid in, but driving people out”, said Basma Kodmani of the opposition High Negotiations Committee.
Many residents said they were afraid to leave via government-controlled routes into regime-held territory. The brutal message to our people is: “leave or starve”.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on July 29 that the Russian operation might be a “ruse”, and if it is, that would destroy his ongoing efforts to negotiate a cease-fire and path towards Syrian peace with Russia in his last months in office.
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Meanwhile, Syrian activists said a US -led coalition airstrike targeting a village in northern Syria held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, had killed 28 civilians the previous night, including seven children. By doing so the Syrian army, with backing from the Russian Aerospace Forces contingent deployed in Latakia, has made the positions of the terrorist groups untenable. He said civilians who leave the city risk being shot by government snipers or being detained due to their opposition sympathies.
