Aleppo Civilians Try to Flee as Syrian Army Advances
Dozens of civilians tried to flee rebel-held east Aleppo overnight but were forced back by gunfire, as the Syrian army on Wednesday pressed an offensive to recapture the whole city.
The government last week resumed its drive to retake the east of the city, where more than 250,000 civilians have been trapped under siege by the army for months, with dwindling food and fuel supplies.
The regime has pounded the east with air strikes, barrel bombs and artillery fire for more than a week, killing more than 140 people as it advances.
Recapturing the east would give President Bashar Assad's government perhaps its most important victory yet in the conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people since it began in March 2011.
The government accuses rebels in the east of using residents as "human shields" and preventing them from leaving.
On Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said dozens of civilians had tried to flee overnight but were forced back by gunfire.
"On Tuesday night, around 100 families gathered near a passage from the (rebel-held) Bustan al-Basha district to cross to Sheikh Maqsud," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
"But when the civilians tried to cross to the other side, gunfire broke out," he told AFP without elaborating.
Sheikh Maqsud is a northern neighborhood controlled by Kurdish forces, allied with neither the regime nor the rebels, between the government-held west and rebel-held east.
- 'Regime rumors' -
On Tuesday, the army issued a statement accusing rebels of holding civilians as "hostages."
"Permit those citizens who want to do so to leave, stop using them as hostages and human shields, clear the mines from the crossings identified by the state."
Rebel groups deny they are preventing civilians from leaving and accused the regime of spreading "rumors."
"This has nothing to do with reality," said Yasser al-Youssef, from the political office of rebel group Nureddin al-Zinki.
"The regime is spreading rumors to try to undermine the resolve of the rebels and those who support them in Aleppo," he told AFP.
The Syrian army, backed by allied forces from Iran, Russia and Lebanon's Hizbullah group, launched a renewed assault on east Aleppo on November 15.
The offensive has killed at least 143 civilians in the east, among them 19 children, since then. Rebel fire has killed 16 civilians in the government-held west, including 10 children.
After days of ferocious bombardment, regime troops now control half of the strategic Masaken Hanano district in the northeast of the city, the Observatory said.
Capturing the district would give the army line-of-fire control over several other parts of the rebel-held east and divide it in two.
- 'Moral outrage' -
The renewed bloodshed has stoked international concern, though there has been little sign so far of a plan to halt it.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Wednesday that backers of Syria's moderate opposition would meet in Paris in early December to discuss the situation.
He urged the international community to "stop averting its gaze" from the "terrible reality" of the conflict.
Save the Children called for an internationally monitored ceasefire to allow aid into east Aleppo and the evacuation of sick and wounded civilians.
"It is a moral outrage that the death toll of Aleppo's children continues to grow and seems only set to get worse, whilst so little action is being taken to end the bombing and hold warring parties accountable," the charity's Syria director, Sonia Khush, said.
The latest government offensive has hit hospitals and rescue centers, and forced schools to close.
Medical officials in the east said some of the barrel bombs dropped by the government appeared to contain chlorine gas.
Both Damascus and its ally Moscow have strongly denied any illegal military use of the chemical.
Over the weekend, U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura floated a humanitarian plan for Aleppo as well as a proposal for a truce.
The truce deal would have allowed the opposition administration in east Aleppo to remain in place, at least temporarily, in return for jihadist fighters leaving.
But the government rejected it, insisting the state had to retake control as any alternative would "reward terrorists."
23 November 2016, 14:53
183
keep praising the Israeli enemy, the ony enemy of Lebanon... but no wonder for being what you are, right you little brown thing!
23 November 2016, 16:21
161
wahhabism and zionism are two sides of the same coin, both sponsor killing.. then you right i consider them as enemies, one enemy is by nature while the other is a circumstantial one, fabricated by Bani Saud...... in Lebanon both entities have some supporters, you and terrorist are an example.... next time try not to jump so quickly, filth.
23 November 2016, 16:37
414
southern irani
yo got it wrong ... it is your heretic religion and terrorism that are synonymous no matter how much you post to the contrary. You and your heretics specialize in killing women and children, torture, and sectarian hatred.
23 November 2016, 16:54
152
axy,
like @terrorist, you're wrongly educated or not educated at all....
btw, if you refer to Tzahal and Nusra / ISIS killers, then you right, because there are no other references that you can stick to, to justify your allegation.... stick it in your mind.
23 November 2016, 17:23
171
"I heard the Israeli forces were more humans when they reached Beirut!"
I dont know what you heard in hasbara school terrorist, but israelis razed west beirut with bombs and then showered the ruins with phosphorus, an illegal weapon. Every true lebanese knows that and will never forget, no matter how many times brown noses like you try to lick israel's image clean.
23 November 2016, 17:27
171
Oh and when they eventually got kicked out and ran with their tails between their legs, they used children as human shields, chaining them onto their tanks and vehicles.
23 November 2016, 17:28
171
I bet that fits right into your definition of "human", but not in everyone else's.
23 November 2016, 17:28
162
sometimes you praise the zionist state, other times you claim to be against.. frequently you defend the Saudi scheme and its ideology of sectarianism but less frequently you want to appear as a critical.... the only people who change according to whether is daylight or nighttime can't be trusted, and have no credibility at all, therefore try to fix your mind and state what you are, coward.
btw, Khomeynism isn't an ideology, it is thoughts. so the only two destructive ideologies are the ones which advocate for murders, killings and destructions, ZIONISM and WAHHABISM, try to read more.
23 November 2016, 17:42
171
anonyme you're the lowest kind of human being, and i dont mean like a rat or a nuisance, you're not even smart or relevant enough to be a nuisance. you're just a sorry sad thing on the side of the road one can only pass by and sigh.
23 November 2016, 17:45
151
The Annahar propaganda continues, the civilians "flee the Syrian army", you already stated that yesterday.
What about the Nusra and other takfiri groups in East Aleppo that fires bursts of machinegun bullets at civilian crowds that tries going to the Syrian Army safe corridors?
23 November 2016, 17:45
211
.mowaten. I'm not a big poster here but I have been using this site for over 48 years and recently I have been liking your posts, you're the only one informing and schooling these deluded ignorants. :)
23 November 2016, 17:51
211
I respect Mr. Mowaten because he only passes by and sighs when he sees a nuisance.
23 November 2016, 17:52
151
about a billion other people use that word anonyme, does that mean I am also them all? you're still as pathetic as ever with your takiya squealing, and dont flatter yourself the only thing you could ever bust is a nut.
23 November 2016, 17:54
151
it's also funny you used the word "squirm", because I used it to describe you not a week ago. maybe i am also you? hahhhh??
23 November 2016, 17:59
211
Hey mowaten…you are one man army...in this site so many personnels against you and you never backdown you tweet them back like a birdie on Twitter…I salute your shia spirit..
23 November 2016, 16:39
212
whether he lived through the war or not it is not the point. Are you denying assad's crimes against the Lebanese or do you think by derailing the discussion and focusing on a poster you would whitewash your master's crimes?
23 November 2016, 17:38
211
funny how hezbi lovers are prompt and quick to defend assad and justify all his butcheries... they seem to quickly forget what they did in lebanon and deny it is impossible he could be responsible for horrors... seems they forget how lebanese were tortured by the regime they defend but still call this regime friendly and democratic...
they only see in their hezbi blinkers israel but are lobotomized when it comes to syria. they both are enemies of lebanon but M8ers still dream of the assad dictatorship over lebanon...
go figure their logic.
23 November 2016, 17:47
151
funny you should mention that, knowing that the first comment on this article was your terrorist friend rushing in to glorify israel.
23 November 2016, 17:51
27
i don't care about terrorist unlike you i am not in love with him... assad and israel are both enemies of lebanon but only collaborators like you cannot see it.... i spit on those who defend the ones responsible for lebanese tortures and kidnappings and ruin of the economy like you who is proud to be pro assad...
but we all know your likes thanked assad for all the horrors this regime did in lebanon and still is praising his democratic and philanthropic regime so what to expect from you?
nothing you are a lost antilebanese case ....
23 November 2016, 17:53
28
All my respect goes to Mr. Mowaten because he notices the first comment on the article posted by someone rushing in to glorify Israel.
23 November 2016, 17:54
141
so if I go by your reasoning, you care about "hezbi lovers" because you are in love with us? hahaha yalla go zahhet.
23 November 2016, 17:56
27
and learn how to read my comments... not through your 5 year old brain if your unique neurone can handle it....
23 November 2016, 18:05
111
that could be a means anonyme, not an aim. but regardless it's neither. peace said he didnt care about terrorist's praise of israel because he is not in love with terrorist, but he seemed to care about what "hezbi lovers" said about assad, so it's only logic to ask him if it means he is in love with us.
oh snap, my apologies. i just realized this required logic to understand. it was cruel of me to expect you to get it
23 November 2016, 17:58
210
no for these antilebanese traitors assad is nice and gentle, democratic and helps lebanon....
no problem if he killed thousands of lebanese as long as their iranman tells them to love him they will love him, they cannot think by themselves they need their iranian teacher for that as they lack neurones....
23 November 2016, 18:02
121
oh believe me I wouldn't care if he killed traitors like you, even if you were lebanese which i doubt.
23 November 2016, 18:03
121
I think i'd even say shoukran souriya for the sanitary measure! lol
23 November 2016, 18:04
28
answer anonyme post mooowaten instead of playing like a 5 year old boy in the school yard:
how come syria is not an enemy when they killed and destroyed lebanon more than israel did?
is it because for you hezbis some lebanese do not count?
can you answer or will you deflect as usual?
23 November 2016, 18:07
111
anonyme's "figures" are shot straight out of his rear, like everything else he says. i dont bother answering his rubbish seriously anymore in case you hadnt noticed.
23 November 2016, 18:09
28
so you are deflecting as usual.... unable to justify assad's horrors in lebanon which are equal if not worse than israel's ones...
good assad boy you are and coward too....
23 November 2016, 18:10
27
OMG ! OMG ! OMG!
Even on an article regarding civilians feeing Aleppo, I find you @mowaten spamming, trolling, and terrorizing other posters. What kind of person are you? New evidence surfaces by the minute that you are a paid poster but the question remains who pays you and for what exact purpose? Is it the Iranian embassy, is it the revolutionary guard, is it the syrian intelligence or the ex-KGB? These questions must be answered by you and NOW!
23 November 2016, 18:11
26
sure they forget about the hundreds of lebanese disappeared in assad's jails, the villages he erased from the map the kidnappins the stealing of the lebanese economy, the tortures, the humiliations at the check points,
moooowaten just answers " sigh" which shows how embarassed he is and how coward he is to not assume his friends massacres...
pity this braindead creature....
23 November 2016, 18:42
26
and mooowaten fled, ill at ease to answer a simple question, unable to assume like a man his pro assad choices.... LOL
23 November 2016, 18:03
29
Bold, and Hilarious
Always going where no one else dares
Whip-Smart comment
@mowaten
What can one say, another E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T comment. I particularly enjoyed the part where you said " you dont need a gf, you have your imaginary friend norma.jean."
Thank you for making this forum lively and vibrant.
Still laughing since January 2015.
Thank you
Yours Sincerely
@CFTC
23 November 2016, 20:11
16
صاروخ تاو يحصد مجموعة من ميليشيا إيران على جبهة معمل الكرتون بحلب الجديدة
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GknL1LhESrs
23 November 2016, 20:27
27
so they can launch attacks ..... against airplanes?.!
humanity has rarely seen filth such as you people.
24 November 2016, 03:23
13
@hero1
you seem like a genuinely nice guy, I just ope you are not sectarian. How many caucasian shias are there in where you were born and raised?
