Aleppo: Syrian Army seizes key district from rebels as thousands flee, observatory says
Updated
The Syrian Army and its allies have driven rebels from eastern Aleppo, in a wider advance that marks the biggest setback for the opposition in Aleppo since 2012, the army and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
Key points:
- "More than 10,000" people flee homes
- Rebels cleared from more than a third of eastern Aleppo: SOHR
- Civilians "rather die" than be in regime hands
More than 10,000 people have fled their homes in rebel-held Aleppo amid a major advance by Syrian forces and their allies, the SOHR said.
SOHR director Rami Abdulrahman said Government forces backed by allied Shi'ite militias had cleared rebels from more than a third of eastern Aleppo in recent days.
"It is the biggest defeat for the opposition in Aleppo since 2012," he told Reuters.
Mr Abdulrahman said the army and its allies were now in control of an entire swathe of eastern Aleppo stretching north from al-Sakhour.
But the rebels denied the army had taken the strategically vital al-Sakhour area, which — if it fell — would mean rebel-held territory in the eastern part of the city would be split in two.
A rebel fighter reached by Reuters said there was "extreme, extreme, extreme pressure" on the insurgents there.
The SOHR said 6,000 families fled to Kurdish-controlled territory with 4,000 crossing into regime-controlled West Aleppo.
Salih Muslim, joint head of the Syrian Kurdish PYD party, said between 6,000 and 10,000 civilians had fled to the Kurdish-controlled Sheikh Maqsoud district from areas of the city where pro-Government forces had advanced.
"Civilians are flooding to these areas which are safer than the others ... Until now between 6,000 — 10,000 people fled to the area and the YPG (Kurdish militia) and the other people are receiving them, keeping them in the area," he told Reuters.
Citing a military source, Syrian state TV said the army and its allies had seized the entire al-Sakhour area and were working to clear it of mines.
'Death is better than this life': resident
For five years, these people resisted the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. They endured constant bombardment, alleged chemical attacks and a complete siege that saw families run out of food.
"We lived a very terrible life. We were humiliated. We saw death. There is no bread, no food, no sugar, no anything," one woman told Reuters as she boarded a Government bus.
Nobody knows how many people remain inside the rebel-held territory.
The ABC spoke to some civilians who said they would rather die than cross into the hands of the regime.
"Death is better than this life," one resident, who did not want to be named, messaged this morning.
Yasir, who works with the Aleppo Medical Council, said he and other activists who spoke out against the regime of Mr Assad were choosing to remain in rebel-held territory, despite the advance.
"We all want to stay here because of a lot or reasons, we are all wanted," he told the ABC.
"When you are a nurse [in East Aleppo] you are wanted, when you are a doctor, you are wanted. Any activist in east Aleppo you are wanted.
"Because we didn't join Assad's army we are wanted. We said 'no' five years ago to Bashar, so we are wanted.
"We will stay here because this is our land. We don't want to leave our home."
Yasir said he was not scared because he had chosen this fate, but he was very concerned for his pregnant wife.
"My wife is so, so sacred. Her family is scared. Every woman, every child here is scared. It's the worst it's ever been," he said.
The Syrian Government, its Russian allies and opposition rebels have been accused of committing war crimes in Syria.
ABC/Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, syrian-arab-republic
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