Russia, Syria Offer Corridors Out of Besieged Aleppo
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – After months of fighting to encircle Takfiri terrorists in Aleppo, Syrian authorities backed by Russia offered safe corridors out for residents and opponents in the northern city’s besieged quarters.
The announcement on humanitarian corridors was made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Thursday, and was followed by a general amnesty offer by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for rebels who give up their arms and surrender to authorities over the next three months, The Daily Star reported.
Fliers dropped over eastern Aleppo showed four corridors leading to government areas, but the media office for the opposition’s rescue group in east Aleppo claimed no safe corridors have been opened.
For days now, Syrian government forces and allied troops have encircled the main rebel enclave in Aleppo, urging the Takfiri elements there to surrender.
The UN says Aleppo is now possibly the largest besieged area in Syria, with an estimated 300,000 residents inside. Humanitarian groups have warned of a major catastrophe if the siege continues.
Shoigu said in televised comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a “large-scale humanitarian operation” that would be launched outside Aleppo to help civilians as well as allow rebels who wanted to lay down the arms to surrender.
Aleppo has been divided between government forces in the west and militants in the east since 2012, a year after the conflict broke out in Syria.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has also displaced over half of the Arab country’s pre-war population of about 23 million.
