More humanitarian corridors to open in besieged Aleppo, Russia says

Tim Hume
By Tim Hume, Schams Elwazer and Ian Lee, CNN
Updated 4:15 AM EDT, Mon August 1, 2016
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Story highlights

Dozens of families have used humanitarian corridors to leave Aleppo, Russia, Syria says

Alliance of Kurdish, Arab forces has captured 40% of Manbij from ISIS, says monitoring group

Syrian rebels launched an offensive to break the Aleppo siege on Sunday

CNN  — 

Syria and Russia will establish four additional humanitarian corridors into Aleppo, Russian state media reported Sunday, a day after both governments said residents had begun using the routes to flee the besieged city.

“In addition to the existing corridors, we are organizing four more humanitarian corridors,” head of the Russian reconciliation center in Syria, Lt.-Gen. Sergey Chvarkov said, according to the state-run Sputnik news agency.

russia syria humanitarian corridors clarissa ward_00023515.jpg
russia syria humanitarian corridors clarissa ward_00023515.jpg
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video

Syria, Russia announce humanitarian corridors

Syria and Russia, its key military backer, announced the creation of the three initial corridors on Thursday, after Syrian forces encircled the city and cut off rebel supply lines.

Both governments say the corridors are to allow for the distribution of badly needed food and medical aid to civilians, who have been facing a humanitarian disaster in the devastated city, and to provide residents – along with rebels who choose to surrender – the opportunity to leave.

The Syrian government has declared a general amnesty for rebels who surrender to government authorities within three months. The government dropped leaflets over the city last week with instructions for residents on where to find the corridors and how to approach them.

Families begin to leave, say Syria, Russia

Dozens of families began trickling out of the rebel-held neighborhoods in the east of the city on Saturday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. They crossed into the government-controlled Salahaddin district, where Syrian army units sent them to makeshift shelters.

Syrian government leaflets dropped to the residents of besieged Aleppo.
Syrian government leaflets dropped to the residents of besieged Aleppo.
Karam Al Masri

Sputnik quoted Chvarkov as saying the existing corridors have allowed 169 civilians and 69 militants who had laid down arms to flee.

Syrian state TV showed images of what it said were women and children leaving, along a street lined with damaged buildings.

However, two sources on the ground told CNN they had visited the crossings and seen no people using them, nor any sign that they had been opened.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Syrian rebels launched an offensive to break the Aleppo siege, a member of the political leadership of Ahrar al Sham said in a video statement posted online.

Ahrar al Sham is an Islamist rebel group that is fighting Assad’s army, ISIS and Kurdish forces.

Ahrar al Sham stated that all factions in the Islamist umbrella group Jaish al Fatah would take part in the battle across the 20 kilometer front line.

Witnesses told CNN they have seen an increase in artillery fire and rocket activity near the front lines. Many residents started fires hoping the smoke would obscure the vision of pilots flying overhead, witnesses on the ground said.

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the war broke out in 2011 and the country’s economic hub, has been a major battleground in the conflict, with rebel groups holding neighborhoods in the east of the city for years. They include so-called moderate factions such as the Free Syrian Army, as well as various Islamist groups, including those, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, that have been designated terrorist organizations.

Displaced Syrian residents wait to receive food aid distributed by the UN Relief and Works Agency at the besieged al-Yarmouk camp, south of Damascus, Syria, on January 31, 2014. According to the UN Envoy for Syria, an estimated 400,000 Syrians have been killed since an uprising in March 2011 spiraled into civil war. See how the conflict has unfolded.
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Displaced Syrian residents wait to receive food aid distributed by the UN Relief and Works Agency at the besieged al-Yarmouk camp, south of Damascus, Syria, on January 31, 2014. According to the UN Envoy for Syria, an estimated 400,000 Syrians have been killed since an uprising in March 2011 spiraled into civil war. See how the conflict has unfolded.
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Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of the northern city of Aleppo, on September 11, 2016.
Smoke rises after an airstrike in Aleppo on October 4, 2016.
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Mahmud Faysal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Smoke rises after an airstrike in Aleppo on October 4, 2016.
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Arabic writing that reads "some day we will return" is seen on a bus window as civilians evacuate Aleppo on December 15, 2016. The evacuations began under a new ceasefire between rebels and pro-government forces.
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Idlib Media Center
This photo, provided by the activist Idlib Media Center, shows dead children after a suspected chemical attack in the rebel-held city of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, 2017. Dozens of people were killed, according to multiple activist groups. The United States responded a few days later by launching between 50-60 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian government airbase. US officials said the base was home to warplanes that carried out the chemical attack. Syria has repeatedly denied it had anything to do with the attack.
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Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images
Members of the UN Security Council raise their hands on April 12, 2017, as they vote in favor of a draft resolution that condemned the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria.
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Hamza Al-Ajweh/AFP/Getty Images
Residents of the war-torn city of Douma break their Ramadan fast on June 18, 2017.
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Bodies lie on the ground in the rebel-held city of Douma, Syria, on April 8, 2018. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/11/middleeast/syria-chemical-attack-500-affected-who-intl/index.html" target="_blank">According to activist groups,</a> helicopters dropped barrel bombs filled with toxic gas on Douma, which has been the focus of a renewed government offensive that launched in mid-February. The Syrian government and its key ally, Russia, vehemently denied involvement and accused rebel groups of fabricating the attack to hinder the army's advances and provoke international military intervention.
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Emad Aldin/EPA-EFE
Bodies lie on the ground in the rebel-held city of Douma, Syria, on April 8, 2018. According to activist groups, helicopters dropped barrel bombs filled with toxic gas on Douma, which has been the focus of a renewed government offensive that launched in mid-February. The Syrian government and its key ally, Russia, vehemently denied involvement and accused rebel groups of fabricating the attack to hinder the army's advances and provoke international military intervention.
Damascus skies erupt with anti-aircraft fire as the US and its allies launch an attack on Syria's capital early on April 14, 2018. US President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons. Trump says the strikes are part of a sustained military response, in coordination with France and the United Kingdom.
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Hassan Ammar/AP
Damascus skies erupt with anti-aircraft fire as the US and its allies launch an attack on Syria's capital early on April 14, 2018. US President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons. Trump says the strikes are part of a sustained military response, in coordination with France and the United Kingdom.
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Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
Women and children who fled the Islamic State group's embattled holdout of Baghouz wait in the back of a truck in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor, on February 14, 2019.
Members of the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the "White Helmets," search the rubble of a collapsed building following an explosion in the town of Jisr al-Shughur on April 24, 2019.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images
Members of the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the "White Helmets," search the rubble of a collapsed building following an explosion in the town of Jisr al-Shughur on April 24, 2019.
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters take part in a battle in Syria's northeastern town of Ras al-Ain as Turkey and its allies continue their assault on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria on October 14, 2019.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Nazeer Al-Khatib/AFP/Getty Images
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters take part in a battle in Syria's northeastern town of Ras al-Ain as Turkey and its allies continue their assault on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria on October 14, 2019.
A member of the Syrian Violet Organization carries an injured boy at a makeshift hospital following a regime air strike on a vegetable market in Syria's last major opposition bastion of Idlib on January 15, 2020.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP/Getty Images
A member of the Syrian Violet Organization carries an injured boy at a makeshift hospital following a regime air strike on a vegetable market in Syria's last major opposition bastion of Idlib on January 15, 2020.
A Syrian man mourns the death of family members next to the rubble of his house following a reported airstrike on the village of Kafr Nuran, in the northern province of Aleppo, on January 21, 2020.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Aaref Watad/AFP/Getty Images
A Syrian man mourns the death of family members next to the rubble of his house following a reported airstrike on the village of Kafr Nuran, in the northern province of Aleppo, on January 21, 2020.
A displaced boy carries a bag of bread as people queue for food distributed by a nonprofit in Idlib on February 19, 2020.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Burak Kara/Getty Images
A displaced boy carries a bag of bread as people queue for food distributed by a nonprofit in Idlib on February 19, 2020.
Members of Syrian Civil Defence and Turkish-backed Syrian forces search for victims in the aftermath of a car bomb explosion near a security checkpoint in the town of Azaz on March 19, 2020.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Bakr Alkasem/AFP/Getty Images
Members of Syrian Civil Defence and Turkish-backed Syrian forces search for victims in the aftermath of a car bomb explosion near a security checkpoint in the town of Azaz on March 19, 2020.
Health workers carry the body of a 62-year-old displaced Syrian man who died of Covid-19, to be buried in the town of Salqin, in Idlib province, on September 17, 2020.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images
Health workers carry the body of a 62-year-old displaced Syrian man who died of Covid-19, to be buried in the town of Salqin, in Idlib province, on September 17, 2020.
An aerial picture shows Syrians waving the national flag during a gathering in the rebel-held city of Idlib on March 15, 2021, as they mark <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/15/middleeast/syria-anniversary-damon-analysis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">10 years</a> since the nationwide anti-government protests that sparked the country's devastating civil war.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images
An aerial picture shows Syrians waving the national flag during a gathering in the rebel-held city of Idlib on March 15, 2021, as they mark 10 years since the nationwide anti-government protests that sparked the country's devastating civil war.

Residents describe life under siege

The United Nations has warned of a potential humanitarian catastrophe in Aleppo as regime troops, backed by Russian air power, tighten their grip on the ruined city. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people remain in the besieged rebel-held part of eastern Aleppo.

In addition to the continual bombardment they face, which has seen numerous hospitals struck, residents complain of acute shortages of food, water and medicine.

“Markets are empty of vegetables and all other food products, streets are empty of cars and vehicles because there is no fuel,” an aid organization manager based in Aleppo told CNN Sunday, as bombs continued to pound rebel-held neighborhoods.

He said the shortages had forced his organization to resort to reusing “single-use” medical equipment after attempting to sterilize it.

An emergency responder in Aleppo confirmed to CNN that rebel-held neighborhoods were under aerial bombardment from Russian jets Sunday. Ambulances and other emergency vehicles in the city were out of fuel, he said.

The United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has said that food supplies in rebel-held areas could run out within weeks.

Russia: Aid is ready for fleeing residents

Russia says that it has prepared 14 tons of humanitarian cargo for those who leave the city, with 2.5 tons of food and other essentials already supplied.

But some residents contacted by CNN say they are wary of the government’s promise they will be safe if they leave the rebel-held areas.

The corridors also have been regarded with skepticism by international actors.

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Aid workers: Situation is desperate in eastern Aleppo

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested Friday that the corridor approach could potentially be a “ruse,” telling reporters that it carried “the risk, if it is a ruse, of completely breaking apart the level of cooperation” between the United States and Russia.

However, he said, “if we’re able to work it out … and have a complete understanding of what is happening and then agreement on the way forward, it could actually open up some possibilities.”

De Mistura says introducing such measures should be left to the U.N. and its partners, and has stressed that no one should be forced to leave.

And Amnesty International has questioned whether the corridors will help prevent a humanitarian disaster, saying many residents are unlikely to trust government assurances over their safety.

U.S.-backed force recaptures 40% of city of Manbij

Elsewhere in Syria, thousands of civilians have also fled ISIS-held parts of the northern city of Manbij, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Aleppo, over the past day, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sunday.

Backed by the air power of the U.S.-led coalition, the alliance of U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab forces – known as the Syrian Democratic Forces – has been engaged in fierce clashes with the Sunni terror group in the city.

The SDF had recaptured about 40% of the city from ISIS as of Sunday, the UK-based monitoring group reported.

U.S. officials describe Manbij as a strategic supply point for ISIS, and the terror group’s principal hub between Raqqa, the capital of its self-declared caliphate, and Turkey.

Clashes are still ongoing with ISIS militants in several other parts of the city, the observatory said.

More than 280,000 Syrians have been killed since fighting began in 2011, and millions have been forced to flee the country.

CNN’s Ghazi Balkiz, Ray Sanchez, Hamdi Alkhshali, Joel Williams, Clarissa Ward, Mahatir Pasha, Richard Roth and Waffa Munayyer contributed to this report.