Syria's military to reduce airstrikes for Aleppo evacuations

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Syria's military to reduce airstrikes for Aleppo evacuations

By PHILIP ISSA and JAMEY KEATEN

 

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's military command said it would scale back its bombardment of the contested city of Aleppo on Wednesday to allow civilians to evacuate besieged rebel-held neighborhoods.

 

The announcement, broadcast on state TV, followed 16 days of airstrikes and shelling that have killed over 300 civilians and damaged hospitals and water facilities. Satellite images released Wednesday by the U.N. show the scale of the destruction since a U.S.-Russia brokered cease-fire collapsed two weeks ago.

 

The government is accused by opponents and international observers of using violence to forcibly depopulate areas seen as disloyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

 

"The government has used scorched earth tactics against us, and then blesses us with an opportunity to leave? Of course this is refused," said Ammar Sakkar, the military spokesman of the Fastiqum rebel faction inside east Aleppo.

 

Doctors inside the city's besieged eastern neighborhoods said there were fewer attacks on Wednesday, after two weeks of airstrikes in which Russian and Syrian government jets targeted underground hospitals with bunker-busting bombs.

 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 316 civilians in eastern Aleppo have been killed in the past two weeks' violence. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has described conditions in eastern Aleppo, where 275,000 people are trapped under a government siege, as "worse than a slaughterhouse."

 

The government has insisted, however, that rebels inside east Aleppo have been preventing civilians from leaving via the safe corridors it demarcated in July with the Russian military. It says hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of displaced people have fled to areas of government control across the country.

 

Earlier this year, the Syrian government negotiated the complete evacuation of Daraya, once an opposition hub on the outskirts of Damascus, after four years of siege left residents with no food or medical care. The U.N. likened the arrangement to "forced displacement" and warned it could not be a precedent for other areas.

 

The U.N.'s satellite imagery program released images it said showed the most recent destruction to eastern parts of Aleppo.

 

"Since the cease-fire has broken down, you certainly see an awful lot of new damage," said Lars Bromley, a research adviser at UNOSAT.

 

The images, from DigitalGlobe and obtained by the U.N. agency through a licensing arrangement with the U.S. State Department, show mostly "formerly blasted and blown-up areas" during Syria's 5-1/2-year war "experiencing a great deal of additional damage," said Bromley.

 

"To a certain extent you're looking at rubble being pushed around," he told reporters.

 

At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest called the images "deeply troubling." But he added that it "tragically is not particularly surprising."

 

"Ordinarily you would be heartbroken to learn that this was the result of some sort of accident. But it's clear that the Syrian regime —backed by the Russians — is engaged in a strategy of bombing those civilians intentionally to try to get them to bend to the will of the Assad regime," he said.

 

The images primarily consist of before-and-after pictures from mid to late September showing the destruction of buildings, including houses, after the short-lived cease-fire broke down. Several images are from northern Aleppo neighborhoods, where government forces have advanced against rebel fighters who are battling back.

 

Some of the images depict large craters, a "signature" that airstrikes have done the damage. Artillery or mortar fire creates a different pattern of destruction, Bromley said.

 

The U.N. satellite images could provide significant insights in the aftermath of high-profile, disputed attacks — such as a deadly attack on a U.N.-backed humanitarian aid convoy west of Aleppo last month.

 

The top U.S. military officer, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, told a Senate committee last week that he believes Russia bombed the convoy and said Syrian and Russian aircraft were in the area at the time. Russia and Syria have denied that they were responsible for the strike, with Russia saying the damage was caused by a cargo fire.

 

"With our analysis, we determined that it was an airstrike," Bromley said.

 

UNOSAT appeared to backtrack slightly on that late Wednesday. Program chief Einar Bjorgo said satellite images were an indication of a "possible air strike, however the situation on the ground, the damage that has been caused, it is quite complex and we cannot be completely conclusive that it is an airstrike."

 

"But there are indicators leaning towards that," he said.

 

The convoy organizers had obtained necessary clearances from the government and rebels as well as the Americans and Russians, who were operating aircraft in Syrian skies. The U.N. Secretary General said last week he would set up an internal U.N. board of inquiry to investigate the Sept. 19 convoy attack.

 

Also on Wednesday, a Syria monitoring group and a Kurdish news agency said overnight airstrikes, suspected to be Turkish, hit a village in northern Syria, killing at least 18 civilians, including three children.

 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 19 people were killed, including three children, in the attack on the majority Kurdish village of Thulthana, in northern Aleppo, several miles away from where Turkish-backed rebels have been advancing. The village is in an area controlled by IS militants.

 

The Hawar news agency in the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas of Syria said 18 were killed, among them six children. It said the attack happened around midnight Tuesday.

 

There was no immediate comment from Ankara. Earlier Wednesday, Turkish military officials reported it had pushed the Islamic State group out of four residential areas south of the town of al-Rai, several miles from Thulthana village. It said two Syrian opposition fighters, a Turkish soldier and 23 IS fighters were killed in the clashes.

 

Separately, a Turkish soldier was killed and three others were lightly wounded in fighting in the opposition-held area of Ziyara, which a group of IS militants tried to infiltrate.

 

The Turkish military launched an offensive inside Syria in August, backing Syrian rebels, to push Islamic State group militants from its borders and curb the advances of Syrian Kurdish forces, which it sees as an extension of its own outlawed Kurdish rebels.

___

Keaten reported from Geneva. Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Susan Frazer in Ankara contributed to this report.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-06

[williamgeorgeallen]

US, UN and any everyone else needs to get the hell out and let them sort out their own mess. how many more years is this going to go on for?

[Rancid]

This proxy will probably drag on for quite a while yet. The US may have lost momentum for the moment,  and see the Russians have just further upgraded their air defenses so seems they at least believe that the McCain/Clinton no fly zone could be introduced. McCain via WSJ says “Ground the regime’s air force, create safe zones for Syrian civilians, and arm the opposition.”

 

If all out war does start via a no-fly zone or the US attacking Syria directly then US/NATO does have the assets to in place to win it, the real question is though is will this get out of control and start WW3? Many analysts seem to believe we are at a moment just as tense as the Cuban Missile Crisis. There again there is the latest Kardashian story...

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

US, UN and any everyone else needs to get the hell out and let them sort out their own mess. how many more years is this going to go on for?

Yes, add Russia,  Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia,  Turkey,  etc, etc, etc. Biggest foreign military force there is Russia.

[williamgeorgeallen]

4 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Yes, add Russia,  Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia,  Turkey,  etc, etc, etc. Biggest foreign military force there is Russia.

the current government is pro russia. its the west that needs to get out.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

the current government is pro russia. its the west that needs to get out.

The current government is a dictator,  not democratically elected by a majority of the country.  I've no problems with Russia being there,  just against the killing of innocent civilians.  Russia has killed more than the dictator!  They need to stop,  hopefully,  you agree with that?

 

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

assad was democratically elected in 2000

Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the current President of Syria, holding the office since 17 July 2000 after winning the 2000 election, where he was the only candidate.

like it or not he is the boss. the russians are on his team. democracy does not seem to work in that area of the world. its a bit like asia.

the west needs to back off and let things settle down russia and americas are now on the brink of war. i dont like where its going.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

assad was democratically elected in 2000

Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the current President of Syria, holding the office since 17 July 2000 after winning the 2000 election, where he was the only candidate.

like it or not he is the boss. the russians are on his team. democracy does not seem to work in that area of the world. its a bit like asia.

the west needs to back off and let things settle down russia and americas are now on the brink of war. i dont like where its going.

You're a few elections off.

 

http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.597052
 

Quote

Voting took place in government-controlled areas of Syria, but not in large parts of northern and eastern Syria held by rebels fighting to end 44 years of Assad family rule.

 

Perhaps similar to elections in North Korea? LOL

[williamgeorgeallen]

On 10/6/2016 at 0:06 PM, craigt3365 said:

On 10/6/2016 at 0:18 PM, craigt3365 said:

You're a few elections off.

 

http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.597052
 

Perhaps similar to elections in North Korea? LOL

 

and probably similar to the coming thai elections as well. i see a global trend forming.

Edited October 7, 2016 by Scott

[Krataiboy]

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 316 civilians in eastern Aleppo have been killed in the past two weeks' violence. 

 

For an interesting insight into this organisation . . .  

http://anonhq.com/truth-behind-oft-quoted-syrian-observatory-human-rights/

[simple1]

18 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 316 civilians in eastern Aleppo have been killed in the past two weeks' violence. 

 

For an interesting insight into this organisation . . .  

http://anonhq.com/truth-behind-oft-quoted-syrian-observatory-human-rights/

 

SOHR has been attacked many times on this forum and elsewhere and as far as I know negative allegations regards its sources & activists in Syria have never been factually proven. It is a fact that foreign reporters are banned by the Syrian government to enter conflict areas and have been deliberately targeted and killed which has led to most international news groups not operating within Syria other than secure prearranged interviews with Syrian government representatives; thereby the reliance on local Syrian sources.

[Krataiboy]

9 minutes ago, simple1 said:

 

SOHR has been attacked many times on this forum and elsewhere and as far as I know negative allegations regards its sources & activists in Syria have never been factually proven. It is a fact that foreign reporters are banned by the Syrian government to enter conflict areas and have been deliberately targeted and killed which has led to most international news groups not operating within Syria other than secure prearranged interviews with Syrian government representatives; thereby the reliance on local Syrian sources.

1

 

The giveaway is your use of the get-out phrase "as far as I know". If you actually bothered to do the research (the link I mentioned is only one of many), you would discover that there are  plenty of facts to support a healthy scepticism about the reliability of SOHR. Unfortunately, the propagandising Western media has brainwashed most of its adherents into believing every critical word they publish about the Assad regime and its supporters, irrespective of the veracity of their sources.

[Morch]

2 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

 

The giveaway is your use of the get-out phrase "as far as I know". If you actually bothered to do the research (the link I mentioned is only one of many), you would discover that there are  plenty of facts to support a healthy scepticism about the reliability of SOHR. Unfortunately, the propagandising Western media has brainwashed most of its adherents into believing every critical word they publish about the Assad regime and its supporters, irrespective of the veracity of their sources.

 

Questioning  the credibility of one website/organization (and I do agree their publications shouldn't be taken as gospel) by quoting another less than reputable source. Hmm....

[craigt3365]

4 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

 

The giveaway is your use of the get-out phrase "as far as I know". If you actually bothered to do the research (the link I mentioned is only one of many), you would discover that there are  plenty of facts to support a healthy scepticism about the reliability of SOHR. Unfortunately, the propagandising Western media has brainwashed most of its adherents into believing every critical word they publish about the Assad regime and its supporters, irrespective of the veracity of their sources.

That's a cop out saying all Western media is propaganda.  It's far from the truth.

 

Brainwashing?  Really.  Lol

[simple1]

3 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

 

The giveaway is your use of the get-out phrase "as far as I know". If you actually bothered to do the research (the link I mentioned is only one of many), you would discover that there are  plenty of facts to support a healthy scepticism about the reliability of SOHR. Unfortunately, the propagandising Western media has brainwashed most of its adherents into believing every critical word they publish about the Assad regime and its supporters, irrespective of the veracity of their sources.

 

The site you reference is a blog which makes accusations. Anyone with an once of intelligence will know the reason why.... site does not reference any sources, so for me zero credibility in the propaganda speak.