‘SAVE US, PEOPLE!’
Aleppo nightmare amid new cease-fire
Syrian rebels said late Wednesday they had cut a new deal to evacuate civilians from besieged east Aleppo after a day of intense shuttle diplomacy and steady bombing of their enclave.
Under the terms of the deal, confirmed by two rebel officials, a cease-fire was expected to go into effect half an hour before midnight Aleppo time.
Civilians and the wounded in east Aleppo were expected to begin evacuating from the city at 6 a.m. Thursday.
An earlier cease-fire between Syrian government forces and rebels collapsed Wednesday, as bombardments resumed — sending terrified citizens running for their lives instead of being evacuated.
That truce, reached late Tuesday, was meant to allow thousands of civilians to leave the war-torn city and for the remaining rebel fighters to evacuate from their crumbling stronghold starting Wednesday at 5 a.m. Aleppo time.
Instead, government jet fighters and artillery units launched an assault while the warring factions traded accusations of blame.
“Bombing is ongoing. No one can move. Everyone is hiding and terrified,” Mohammad al-Khatib told Agence France-Presse from inside the city. “The wounded and dead are lying in the street.”
A doctor in the besieged city issued a plaintive plea for help.
“Save us, people! Save us, people, world, anyone who has even a bit of humanity,” he said, according to The Guardian.
Despite the setback, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call to make a joint effort to start evacuations from eastern Aleppo as soon as possible, AFP reported.
They emphasized the need to prevent the violations of the cease-fire deal brokered by their countries. Erdogan told Putin that Turkey was ready to provide temporary shelter and humanitarian assistance after the opening of safe corridors.
Buses meant to shuttle evacuees raced out of Aleppo empty as the bombardments rocked the city, delaying its return to full control of President Bashar al-Assad.