US Sceptical of Syria-Russia ‘Humanitarian Operation’ in Aleppo
The move came a couple of days after the Syrian army started storming rebel-held districts in Aleppo, following a military campaign.
SANA, Syria’s state news agency, said the civilians were later taken to government shelters in western Aleppo.
Families left eastern Aleppo districts via routes identified as safe passages by the Syrian authorities, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-base monitoring group, said that several Aleppo residents, who were seeking to exit, were turned back by terrorists.
Opposition activist Baraa Al Halaby, who lives in Aleppo, said: “This is a game by the regime – not a single person left”.
“The regime, Iran and Russian Federation should have stopped the aerial raids if they have the smallest concern for humanity”, one resident said.
Syrian activists say U.S.-led coalition airstrikes targeting a village in northern Syria held by the Islamic State group killed 28 civilians, including seven children. “On the other hand, if we’re able to work it out today and have a complete understanding of what is happening and an agreement on the way forward, it could actually open up some possibilities”. “That’s our job”, he said.
“We left with our remaining children”.
“If need be, humanitarian corridors for peaceful convoys will be opened not only from Aleppo but also into that city”. “When they do, it is crucial that they are given the option of living in areas of their own choice”.
Analyst Karim Bitar from the French think-tank IRIS said: “Aleppo residents are facing a awful existential dilemma, they often have to chose between risking starvation or risking to die while fleeing”.
The group also reported clashes in the same areas, saying the government was attempting to stop any rebel bid to bring in reinforcements to break the siege. Rebel fighters were forbidding people from using the Bustan al-Qasr crossing, in the north of the city, “out of fear for their safety”, according to Khaled Khatib, a volunteer for the Civil Defense search-and-rescue brigade.
Humanitarian corridors for peaceful missions can be opened both from Syria’s Aleppo and into the city, if necessary, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said on July 29.
Observatory’s chief Rami Adurrahman says another 13 people were killed in the strikes but that he couldn’t say if they were IS fighters or civilians. Four hospitals have been hit.
It was also unclear if the Al-Ghandour strikes involved an airstrike reported on Thursday by the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. forces in the Middle East.
Much of Aleppo, the country’s largest city and a vital economic hub, has been reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland.
“The world must not allow Russian Federation to get away with disguising its assault on Aleppo with deceitful talk about humanitarian “corridors.’ Be clear – these ‘corridors” are not for getting aid in, but driving people out”.
The report stopped short of giving an exact number of the evacuees, but the process is apparently ongoing.
More than 280,000 have been killed in Syria’s war, which erupted in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests before becoming a complex conflict and the spread of militants.