begin quote from:
BEIRUT,
Lebanon — Thousands of people were sent fleeing for their lives on
Monday as rebel fighters lost a large swath of territory in the northern
Syrian city of Aleppo to government forces and Kurdish fighters, in
what could …
BEIRUT,
Lebanon — Thousands of people were sent fleeing for their lives on
Monday as rebel fighters lost a large stretch of territory in the
northern Syrian city of Aleppo to government forces and Kurdish
fighters, in what could prove to be a turning point in the conflict,
both militarily and psychologically.
Residents
described desperate scenes of people being killed by shells as they
searched for shelter after their homes came under the heaviest
bombardment yet in a grinding battle that has destroyed entire
neighborhoods of the city, once Syria’s largest and an industrial hub.
At
least 4,000 people have been registered with the Syrian Arab Red
Crescent in Jibreen, a government-controlled neighborhood in western
Aleppo, Jens Laerke, the spokesman for the United Nations office for
humanitarian affairs, said on Monday.
As
the rebels absorbed the harshest blow since they seized more than half
the city four years ago, it seemed increasingly likely that President
Bashar al-Assad would eventually manage to take back all of Aleppo.
That
would give the Syrian government control of the country’s five largest
cities and most of the more-populous west, leaving the rebels fighting
Mr. Assad with only the northern province of Idlib and a few isolated
pockets in the provinces of Aleppo and Homs and around the capital,
Damascus.
Throughout
the day, government troops, backed by allied militias from Iran and the
militant group Hezbollah, advanced from the east and north into the
rebel-held areas of Aleppo. That included Hanano, one of the first areas
to fall, in 2012, and Sakhour.
Kurdish-led militias advanced from the west, from the Kurdish-controlled neighborhood of Sheikh Maksoud, taking the rebel-held district of Sheikh Fares.
Kurdish
militias have staked out areas of de facto autonomy in parts of the
country but are not entirely aligned with either the government or the
rebels. The state news media and opposition activists have portrayed
them, however, as working with the government to fight rebels in Aleppo.
If
the government takes back the whole city, large parts of Syria would
still remain outside government control, as Kurdish groups and the
Islamic State militant group hold most of the eastern half of the
country. But it could effectively spell the end of the Syrian insurgent
movements that sprang up against Mr. Assad after a crackdown on protests
in 2011.
“It’s
like doomsday,” said Zaher al-Zaher, an antigovernment activist who
could communicate only in short bursts of text messages, as internet
connections were failing.
Hisham
al-Skeif, a member of a local council in the rebel-held eastern
districts of Aleppo, said he was scrambling to find housing for families
in areas that had been recaptured in the past day.
“The
problem today, in this moment, is not water and food,” he said, at one
point choking with tears. “We are threatened with slaughtering,
slaughtering.”
The
advances shattered a standoff that had lasted months, after government
forces surrounded and besieged the rebel-controlled parts of the city
this year, closing off regular access to food, medicine and other
supplies.
The
government and its Russian allies had made several offers for civilians
and fighters to leave, but there were few takers. People in eastern
Aleppo said they did not trust the government to keep them safe, and
government officials said the rebels were not allowing them to leave.
But on Monday, there appeared to be little room for compromise.
Government soldiers posted a video of themselves playing the drums in celebration on the outskirts of rebel-held areas, as leaflets were dropped, telling those inside to flee or face death.
“We
won’t have any mercy to those who confront the Syrian Army,” one flier
read, “but for those who will return to normal life, all the essentials
of life will be secured.”
Another leaflet told rebels to abandon hopes that insurgents outside the city would break the siege.
“Don’t
be dumb, think about yourselves and your families,” it read. “Victory
is coming for the Syrian Arab Army, think quickly because time is
passing and it’s not on your side.”
Still, not all of those fleeing chose to head for government-held areas.
Several
thousand people fled rebel-held districts on Monday, according to
monitoring groups and residents. Some headed for Sheikh Maksoud, where
videos showed them scrambling over a berm; others went to
government-held areas, where the state news media showed them thanking
national leaders.
Others
moved south into areas still controlled by rebels, only to find
themselves still under bombardment. Modar Sheko, a nurse, fled his house
with his brother, who was killed by a shell in the chaos. Their father,
too, was killed as he looked for a grave site, several of Mr. Sheiko’s
colleagues said.
Mr.
Sheiko’s friend Abdelkafi al-Hamdo, a schoolteacher and activist, said
in a text message that Mr. Sheiko would now have to choose between
burying the dead, accepting condolences and looking for a house for his
surviving relatives.
“What should he do?” Mr. Hamdo said.
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