Operation Stop The Slaughter
Boris Johnson joins plea for safe passage for trapped civilians Assad launches new ‘chemical attacks’ as bloody battle nears end
FOREIGN Secretary Boris Johnson last night joined world leaders in a desperate call for action to prevent the slaughter of ten of thousands of civilians who are trapped in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
The plea came as the battle for the city was entering its final hours, with the combined forces of the Syrian government of President Assad and his Russian allies poised to claim victory after four years of fighting.
International observers and local leaders fear the lives of up to 150,000 people in the last remaining rebelheld area are in danger unless they can be given safe passage out of the city through a humanitarian corridor, amid claims of renewed chemical attacks by the Syrian regime.
Speaking in Paris, Mr Johnson said: ‘The situation in Aleppo remains dire with desperate images of destruction and a flagrant disregard for human life being splashed across the media on a daily basis.
‘We agreed our first priority must be the protection of civilians and ensuring access for humanitarian aid. It’s essential that the regime and its backers provide the UN that access with immediate effect.’
Russia claimed last night that Syrian forces controlled 93 per cent of Aleppo and that Assad’s troops had secured the safe passage of 50,000 civilians from the city along ‘humanitarian corridors’. They added that 1,217 rebel fighters had laid down their weapons in the last 24 hours.
But footage has emerged which suggests Assad has launched a new wave of deadly chlorine attacks on civilian areas. There have also been reports that hundreds of men in the rebel-held area have disappeared.
Mr Johnson’s comments echoed the remarks of US Secretary of State John Kerry, who called on Russia and Assad to stop their onslaught and provide assurances about the fate of rebels who have agreed to stop fighting.
Last night chemical weapons expert Colonel Hamish de BrettonGordon claimed the dictator had use ‘morbidly effective’ tactics to clear remaining rebel-held neighbourhoods. The former British Army officer said: ‘Assad’s air force had already flattened these areas by carpet bombing yet thousands of people were still living there, mainly in underground shelters. The clouds of chlorine gas lingered at street level and seeped into the shelters, forcing people out from underground.
‘The footage is genuine and is backed up by the accounts of doctors. Assad’s sickening tactic appears to have worked. We must also have very grave concerns for those who remain in Aleppo as Syrian regime forces take over.’
Colonel de Bretton-Gordon and British surgeon David Nott, who has worked in Aleppo, have also called for the UK to plan for a military intervention in Syria to support humanitarian operations.
Last night former International Secretary for International Development Andrew Mitchell agreed, saying: ‘Britain should be willing to play a leading role in a UN-sanctioned military force in support of the humanitarian operations.’
US and Russia were locked in negotiations in Geneva last night over a possible ceasefire.
The war in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people and made more than 11 million homeless.
Last night, a seven-year-old girl, whose plight has touched the world, begged Theresa May for help.
Bana Alabed’s daily account of the war on Twitter has made her one of the most famous civilian voices coming out of Aleppo.
Last night, she told The Mail on Sunday her message to Mrs May was: ‘Please help us – STOP THE BOMBING.’