Syrian and Russian forces are to open humanitarian corridors for people to flee the besieged city of Aleppo, both countries’ state media reported Thursday, the day after Syria’s army announced it had encircled the city and cut off rebel supply routes.
Three relief corridors would be set up to distribute food and medical aid to civilians in a “large-scale humanitarian operation,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, while a fourth would be established in northern Aleppo for rebels who wished to lay down arms and surrender, according to Russian state media.
Aleppo Gov. Mohammad Olabi also announced the opening of three corridors for residents to flee the besieged rebel-held neighborhoods in the east of the city, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported — although it made no mention of a fourth corridor for surrendering rebels.
The news came as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced a general amnesty for rebels who surrendered to government authorities within three months, SANA reported.
The amnesty would also apply to those who safely released people they had kidnapped during Syria’s five-year civil war. Assad has previously offered amnesty to rebels or deserters, and commuted sentences for various offenses.
U.N. expresses grave concerns
Aleppo, in the northwest of the country, has been a major battleground in the grinding civil war, with rebel groups holding neighborhoods in the east of the city for years.
The United Nations has warned recently of a potential humanitarian disaster as government troops, backed by Russian air support, tightened their grip on the city, where it says an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people remain.
U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said last week that food supplies in eastern Aleppo were expected to run out in mid-August.
The Syrian government, which says it is winning control of more neighborhoods in the city, has called on all residents bearing weapons to surrender their arms.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Russia’s Shoigu said that the joint relief operation was being carried out “solely to ensure the safety of the residents of Aleppo,” where “a complex humanitarian situation” had been created.
“We have repeatedly called on the warring parties to reconcile, but every time, the militants violated the cessation of hostilities, shelled villages, attacked the positions of government troops,” he said.
Residents’ fears
Residents in the rebel-held neighborhoods in the east of the city told CNN on Wednesday they were hungry and faced serious food and water shortages.
They had received text messages from the regime telling them to leave. But they were fearful of government troops surrounding and killing them if they sought to flee, or starving if they stayed.
UNICEF issued a statement Tuesday saying four hospitals in eastern Aleppo and a blood blank had been struck in recent days, disrupting vital medical services.
