Revenge squads stalking refugees

‘‘Everyone is worried that the regime may commit massacres against civilians in the areas it controls.’’ Abdullah Ahmed, Aleppo resident

SYRIA: Many men in Aleppo who chose to stay in their homes as their neighbourhood was overrun by regime forces have been taken to the suburb of Jibreen and a nearby air base for interrogation, according to relatives. There are unconfirmed reports that all suspected rebels are being quickly murdered.

Even as they flee the front line, the residents of Aleppo are not safe. At least 25 were killed by a barrel bomb, the White Helmets rescue group said yesterday.

For those who make it to safety, all that awaits them is a blasted landscape of buildings with their facades torn away by repeated bombardment, guarding a route to whatever sanctuary they can find.

Three days after the rebel lines in the city collapsed, Syrian regime troops and their supporting militias are securing their positions in the third of rebel-held Aleppo that they have seized.

The regime’s Russian backers yesterday declared themselves satisfied. ‘‘The situation has drastically changed over the past day thanks to the well-prepared and accurate actions of Syrian troops,’’ said Major-general Igor Konashenkov, the Russian defence ministry spokesman.

More than 80,000 residents, including tens of thousands of children, had been ‘‘liberated’’, he said.

Pro-regime sources said the aim was to take the whole city by the time Donald Trump was sworn in as United States president.

Syrian media claimed that its troops had been welcomed into northern neighbourhoods such as Masaken Hanano and Sakhour, both long-time rebel strongholds. However, video footage captured by a Russian interpreter travelling with the regime showed a different picture, with hordes of civilians standing around in the cold, waiting anxiously with their bags for whatever might happen next.

In rebel areas away from the front line, residents reported chaotic scenes, with new arrivals being squeezed into already overcrowded homes. A doctor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said his clinic was still operating but conditions were quickly getting worse.

Residents who insist on remaining in Aleppo will be assumed by the regime to have opposition sympathies – making them obvious targets. Activists and residents said they feared retaliation.

‘‘Everyone is worried that the regime may commit massacres against civilians in the areas it controls,’’ said Abdullah Ahmed, in the Old City.

He said he had escaped with his wife and three children from his home in Sakhour, now held by the regime. At best, he said, men were being taken away for military service.

One man, who asked to remain anonymous, said two of his brothers had been arrested. He did not know what had happened to them.

Another, Abu Omar, described what happened as regime troops arrived in his neighbourhood in Masaken Hanano.

‘‘Ninety per cent [of residents] have fled their homes. Very few stayed, and some of them were arrested. Some were sent to Jibreen, then returned to the regime areas.

‘‘Now many people are crossing into the regime areas, but they are in danger.’’ – The Times