BEIRUT // More than 500 people have been killed this month in a Russian-backed regime offensive in northern Syria, a monitoring group said on Wednesday, as Turkey’s leaders lashed out at the United Nations and others who are pressing the country to open its border to thousands more Syrian refugees.
It also came as the US envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition in Syria and Iraq, Brett McGurk, said that Russian air strikes in and around the city of Aleppo are “directly enabling” the extremist group.
France, Britain and their allies at the UN Security Council on Wednesday pushed Russia to end its bombing and press the regime to allow humanitarian aid in.
“Let me be clear about it: It’s not a favour that we are asking to the Syrian regime and its allies, it’s their obligation,” said French ambassador Francois Delattre.
The appeals to Russia came on the eve of a crucial meeting in Munich of the 17-nation International Syria Support Group. The meeting is aimed at finding a way to progress peace talks set to resume in Geneva on February 25.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday that 506 people had died since the regime launched a major offensive against rebels in Aleppo province on February 1.
They include 23 children who were killed in Russian air strikes, according to the Britain-based group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.
Tens of thousands of Syrians who fled the offensive were still stranded on Wednesday at the Oncupinar border crossing with Turkey, which remained closed.
Turkey, already hosting 2.7 million Syrian refugees, has so far refused to let a new wave into the country, instead providing humanitarian assistance over the border in Syria.
Many are sleeping in tents or out in the open, with emergency camps already full.
On Wednesday Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the Security Council and the international community “two-faced” for demanding that Turkey open its borders while not moving “a finger to solve the Syrian crisis” or to stop the Russian bombings.
He also said the Syrian and Russian military operations were an attempt to drive out people who don’t support the government of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad. By taking in the refugees that have fled Aleppo, he said Turkey would be indirectly contributing to what he called Syria’s “ethnic cleansing.”
In Ankara, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the UN had sent US$455 million (Dh1.7 billion) to Turkey to help with refugees compared to the $10b that Ankara has spent on the refugees since 2011.
“What does the UN say? ‘Open your border to the refugees.’ What are you for then? What is your use?” Mr Erdogan asked. “We have taken 3 million Syrians and Iraqis into our home until now. How many did you take?”
Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Wednesday that the health care system around the war-torn town of Azaz in Aleppo province was “close to collapse” due to intensifying fighting in the area.
Since Saturday, an MSF hospital near Azaz has seen an increase of about 50 per cent in its outpatient department. Many are suffering respiratory tract infections.
“Azaz district has seen some of the heaviest tolls of this brutal war, and yet again we are seeing health care under siege,” said Muskilda Zancada, the head of MSF’s Syria mission.
Those who have fled the offensive tell of scenes of terror and suffering.
“Children are dying under bombs and from hunger and cold. They are living on the roads. They don’t have any place to stay,” said Abdul Karim Bahloul, who crossed into Turkey on Wednesday morning.
Ankara is on alert for fighters infiltrating its territory, after a series of attacks on its soil that the government blamed on ISIL.
The Turkish security forces said on Wednesday they had seized explosives and four suicide vests in the baggage of a group of suspects stopped at the border east of the Oncupinar crossing.
Fighting on Wednesday raged around Tamura, north of Aleppo city, with intense Russian air raids on several nearby villages, the Observatory said.
Pro-regime forces have made a series of gains this month in Aleppo province, severing rebel supply lines.
The UN has warned that 300,000 people in eastern Aleppo city could be cut off from humanitarian aid if government forces encircle the area, a tactic used by the regime to devastating effect against other rebel bastions.
More than 260,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced since Syria’s conflict began in 2011 with anti-regime protests.
* Agence France-Presse