BEIRUT // At least 20 civilians fleeing government advances were killed by air strikes in eastern Aleppo on Tuesday, according to opposition groups, as the United Nations said up to 16,000 people have been displaced in recent days of fighting
France called for an urgent security council meeting to discuss the situation in Aleppo, where ferocious fighting continued as government forces closed in and sought to break down rebel defences in the east of the deeply divided city.
Government forces pushed their way into a new rebel neighbourhood on the edge of eastern Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition monitoring group. The Observatory and government-allied media reported that troops were also battling opposition fighters on the edge of western Aleppo, which is controlled by the government.
The Syrian Civil Defence, a team of first responders also known as the White Helmets, said air strikes hit a group of civilians fleeing to the district of Bab Al Nairab district from government advances in the north, killing 25.
The activist-operated Halab News Network posted footage of the aftermath of the air strikes, saying at least 20 people from three different families had been killed. The footage showed body parts strewn along a road full of debris, and families grieving over the corpses of their relatives as rescue workers attended to them. At one point, a warplane roamed overhead.
The Observatory put the death toll at 10, but said it was likely to rise, as dozens were wounded and missing.
In swift and dramatic advances, Syrian government and allied troops have pushed their way into northern parts of opposition-held eastern Aleppo in the last couple of days, setting off a wave of panic and flight from the besieged enclave. Many of the fleeing civilian haves headed to government and Kurdish-controlled areas while others have been driven deeper into the remaining rebel-held zones.
The UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said he was “extremely concerned” about the fate of civilians, adding that new displacements were likely. He called the situation in Aleppo “deeply alarming and chilling”.
“There are no functioning hospitals left, and official food stocks are practically finished in eastern Aleppo,” he said. “It is likely that thousands more will have no choice but to flee should fighting continue to spread and intensify over the coming days.”
Remaining residents of eastern Aleppo reported that thousands of civilians had moved to its southern district, cramming into alleyways and empty or deserted buildings.
Farida, a gynecologist, said the situation had become “unbearable”. “Many people are escaping to government areas,” she said, rushing back to her patient in labour, in one of the few functioning clinics in the enclave.
Abdulkafi Alhamdo, a teacher, said many of the newly displaced had squatted in his nearly empty apartment building. “They are not safer from air strikes, but are at least seeking refuge from the government gangs,” said Mr Alhamdo. Many of the fleeing civilians fear revenge attacks, amid reports of arrests from people living in government-held areas, he said.
“Those [fleeing] have escaped death miraculously,” he added. “They called it a death trip.”
* Associated Press