Assad regime forces tightened their grip around Aleppo on Thursday by cuttign the latest supply route into the rebel-held areas, and the governor of the area said they would open corridors for civilians to escape the besieged districts of the city aiming at emptying Aleppo of its civilians.
More than 300.000 civilians still live in Aleppo’s opposition-controlled eastern neighborhoods, effectively under siege since the army and allied militia cut off the last road into rebel districts in early July.
Those civilians were under daily bombing for the past months that killed thousands of them. In the past few days, more than 100 civilians were killed in the city.
Assad regime’s state television quoted the governor of Aleppo as saying three humanitarian corridors would be established for civilians to leave the city.
Bashar al-Assad, who is the root cause of the Syrian crisis that killed more than 450.000 civilians, also offered an amnesty for rebels who surrender within three months.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said a fourth corridor would be set up in the north of the city for militants, near the Castello road which the army recently took over.
“On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, today, (we will) start a large-scale humanitarian operation together with the Syrian government to help civilians in Aleppo,” Shoigu said in televised comments.
“Leave the city”
The Syrian army said on Wednesday it had dropped thousands of leaflets over rebel-held districts, asking residents to cooperate with the military and calling on fighters to surrender.
A picture of what appeared to be one of the leaflets showed a map of Aleppo, titled “Safe exit points from Aleppo city”, with four crossing points out of the rebel areas marked on the map and described as humanitarian corridors.
“These leaflets are addressing civilians to leave their homes and properties. They are calling civilians to carry the leaflet in one hand and hold their children in the other. This is a solid proof of the indiscriminate attacks on women and children in residential areas of Aleppo by Assad regime, a Syrian activist from the local council told Orient Net.
Some Syrian activists say that these messages of intimidation in which Assad forces address civilians are but a a step in which Assad aims at emptying out Aleppo of its people like that step which Assad regime did in Homs two years ago.
