Share

Tens of thousands flee Aleppo following latest wave of airstrikes in Syria

Government officials said there was no sign yet of people from Aleppo reaching Turkey in large numbers, adding that there was capacity to initially accommodate 55-60,000 in a camp in the Turkish border town of Kilis.

Advertisement

The exodus was focused south of second city Aleppo, one of five areas where loyalist forces have launched offensives since Russian Federation began its air war on 30 September.

More broadly, Washington has complained that instead of hitting Islamic State fighters, Russian airstrikes are mostly targeting rebel forces fighting the Syrian government.

Syria’s war has killed more than 250,000 people and forced millions from their homes since March 2011, recently sparking a mass migration of refugees that has raised tensions in Europe.

Turkey is ready to accept a political transition in Syria in which president Bashar Al Assad stays in symbolic power for six months before leaving office, two senior government officials said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, activists said Russian airstrikes killed and wounded dozens of people in the rebel-held Jabal al-Akrad region in Latakia province.

Sahin of IHH, which established 19 internally displaced persons camps inside Syria, said around 80,000 people had fled Hama city because of air strikes, and were living in the open air in the countryside.

The two sides also agreed to establish a “communication line on the ground” as a backup of military-to-military communication, Cook said, although he would not say whether this would be a telephone line or where it would be located.

Earlier in the day, western media reported three Russian soldiers were killed during militant groups’ shelling on the Jabal Younes area in the countryside of Latakia, where the Russian air forces are stationing.

Ahmad said a fighter trained in the use of the anti-tank TOW missiles had also been killed. The group said the dead civilians included 36 children and 34 women. Assad’s main foreign foes include Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

Advertisement

Among those killed was the commander of the First Coastal Division, a moderate rebel group that has reportedly received arms supplies from the USA the group said.

A US military aircraft takes off