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Syrian Group: Rebels Preventing Refugees From Fleeing Aleppo
| New York Times | - |
BEIRUT
- A Syrian monitoring group alleged Tuesday that rebels are preventing
dozens of families from fleeing eastern Aleppo as Russian-backed
government forces intensify their bombardment of the besieged quarter.
Civilians flee as Syria regime advances in rebel AleppoSyrian Group: Rebels Preventing Refugees From Fleeing Aleppo
BEIRUT
— A Syrian monitoring group alleged Tuesday that rebels are preventing
dozens of families from fleeing eastern Aleppo as Russian-backed
government forces intensify their bombardment of the besieged quarter.
Such
claims are difficult to verify and often distorted owing to the
propaganda value of the matter. Syrian and Russian state media maintain
that rebels are holding the enclave's 275,000 remaining inhabitants
hostage to use as human shields, even as the government's air force
pounds the east's hospitals and first responder groups.
Opposition
outlets on the other hand want to show that civilians will never accept
returning to the government's heavy-handed rule. Russia has backed
Syrian President Bashar Assad with vast military support as he fights to
put down an uprising that is approaching its sixth year. Over 300,000
people have been killed in the raging war.
A
resident of Aleppo's frontline Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood corroborated
the report by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
monitoring group, which maintains a network of contacts among both
government and anti-government institutions.
Hajj
Mohammed al-Jasim told The Associated Press his uncles' families were
trying to cross from the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood in the east to the
predominantly Kurdish enclave of Sheikh Maqsoud.
"They've
wanted to cross for a while because the circumstances have become very
difficult," said al-Jasim, who confirmed his location near the al-Riz
crossing via phone location services.
He
said his relatives told him they were prepared to cross during the day
but were advised by three rebel groups to wait until dark.
"Then
in the evening, (the rebels) began to fire at the crossing" to prevent
passage, al-Jasim said. He said about fifty families were waiting to
cross.
The
autonomous Kurdish defense forces, the YPG, have promised housing in
Sheikh Maqsoud to any families who cross, or secure passage on to
opposition-held Azaz or Kurdish-held Afrin, two towns north of Aleppo,
according to the al-Jasim.
The
Observatory reported 100 families are waiting to cross, while Ahmad
Hiso Araj, a political official for the YPG-aligned Syrian Democratic
Forces, said 250 civilians were prepared to go. He said they were
communicating with their relatives in Sheikh Maqsoud to evacuate Bustan
al-Basha.
The
government has recently stepped up its bombardment of eastern Aleppo,
and by Sunday it had knocked out every hospital in the quarter,
according to the World Health Organization. The Observatory says at
least 140 civilians, including 18 children, have been killed.
The
U.N.'s chief humanitarian official Stephen O'Brien said Monday the
conditions had gone "from terrible to terrifying and now barely
survivable."
U.N.
humanitarian official Jan Egeland warned two weeks ago that the east
was running out of food. The area has been under siege by pro-government
forces since August.
The
government's air assault has been accompanied by pro-government troops
pushing their way into neighborhoods on the edges of eastern Aleppo.
Fighting
on the southern edge, in the Sheik Saeed neighborhood intensified
Tuesday. A major rebel group, Ahrar al-Sham, said one of its leading
commanders was killed there as they repelled advances by government
troops.
In
Damascus, Syria's military command announced it was forming a new
anti-terrorism commando force, calling on volunteers interested in
"achieving the final victory against terrorism" to apply.
The
announcement, which named the new anti-terrorism force the Fifth Corps,
didn't specify where the force would be deployed. After nearly six
years of combat, the Syrian conscription-based armed forces has become
overstretched and has increasingly relied on its regional allies that
have boosted its numbers and capabilities. Iran, Iraq and Lebanon's
Hezbollah group have sent in hundreds of fighters who have fought
alongside government troops, sometimes leading combat units, in decisive
battles against armed opposition groups and extremist militants.
This
comes a year after the Syrian armed forces announced the formation of
the Fourth Corps, also an anti-terrorism force, soon after Russia began
its military operations alongside the Syrian government.
The
Syrian army declaration read on State TV also comes as the pace of
government warnings to the residents of the besieged rebel-held part of
eastern Aleppo city rises. An announcement Tuesday urged armed
opposition groups to allow civilians to exit the besieged enclave
through government-designated corridors. Another urged residents to
cooperate with government forces. A third called on residents to avoid
going out in the streets except in "dire need" and to stay clear of
areas where armed groups operate.
Also
on Tuesday, Syria's president received a Russian delegation in
Damascus, headed by the Russian deputy prime minister, in a show of
close ties between the two governments in the face of international
criticism.
And
the Pentagon on Tuesday said a Nov. 18 U.S. military airstrike killed
senior al-Qaida leader Abu Afghan al-Masri, who had ties to militant
movements across the Middle East.
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