‘MELTDOWN OF HUMANITY’
Brutality follows fall of Aleppo
After four long, bloody years and countless lives lost, the battle for the beleaguered city of Aleppo appeared to finally be over Tuesday.
Following months of horrific bombardment, the rebels, who had fought fiercely for Syria’s second city since seizing control in 2012, agreed to surrender in return for amnesty and the evacuation of the remaining civilians.
Under a deal brokered by Bashar Assad’s ally Russia, and Turkey, a sponsor of the opposition, those still left will be sent to rebel-held areas in the countryside outside Aleppo.
Late Tuesday, Russia announced that the Syrian government was in full control of all of Aleppo — once home to 2.5 million people — though that could not be independently confirmed.
The final hours of the battle for Aleppo — which has claimed 5,000 lives in the past month alone — were remorseless in their brutality.
Jens Laerke, the United Nations humanitarian spokesman, described “a complete meltdown of humanity in Aleppo,” citing reports from a Syrian volunteer rescue group known as the White Helmets. “It’s hell,” he added. Rupert Colville, an official with the UN human rights agency, said his office received reports that Syrian soldiers and allied Iraqi militia killed at least 82 civilians, entering homes and killing people “on the spot.” Others were reportedly shot as they fled. A list of names provided to the UN included 11 women and 13 children, he said.
The reports of summary executions of civilians and apparent house-by-house rampages reflected the chaos gripping Aleppo as forces supporting Assad have pushed rebels into a patch of territory covering less than three square miles.
Former British foreign secretary David Miliband, now head of the aid group International Rescue Committee, said the area has become “a bloody graveyard for thousands of innocent people and for the death of respect for international law and the rules of war.”
International aid agencies urged government forces Tuesday to refrain from acts of revenge against people who either escape rebel-held areas or are captured there.
“Thousands of civilians’ lives are in danger as front lines close in around them,” said a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“A deepening humanitarian catastrophe and further loss of life can be averted only if the basic rules of warfare — and of humanity — are applied.”
Almost a month after pro-Assad troops launched a final push to take back the city, the rebels’ collapse had come swiftly. Their final districts were falling like dominoes, sparking jubilation in the streets of some government-held areas.
Rebel forces have regularly shelled west Aleppo, and the presence of an al- Qaida-linked group in Syria’s armed rebellion has led many government supporters to view all militants as terrorists.
Thousands of people have been killed in the four-yearlong battle for the city, once a key economic hub. Throughout much of the rebel-held east, the streets have been shattered beyond recognition. The area’s health system has also been systematically attacked.
Fighting appeared to have slowed Tuesday as rain and thunderstorms made it difficult for warplanes to fly.
In a video posted to the livestreaming site Periscope, Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, an English teacher, addressed viewers from an empty street.
“Now it is raining. Bombs a little bit calmer,” he said. “We wanted freedom. We didn’t want anything else but freedom. You know, this world doesn’t like freedom, it seems.”
Thousands more were still trapped in the rebelheld areas, refusing to leave because they fear for their safety at the hands of government troops, said Zouhir al-Shimale, an activist who is still living under rebel control.
“We’re in a very tiny area, and there are so many families stuck here,” he said. “Either they can’t leave because they are wanted by the government or they don’t want to leave because this is their home.”
France said Tuesday that it has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to urgently address the crisis.
François Delattre, the French ambassador, said the session would discuss measures to confront “the worst humanitarian tragedy of the 21st century unfolding before our eyes.”
WE WANTED FREEDOM. WE DIDN’T WANT ANYTHING ELSE BUT FREEDOM.