BEIRUT // East Aleppo will be wiped off the map by the end of the year if bombardment of the city continues at the current rate.
The United Nations envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, warned that eastern Aleppo faces total destruction on a scale to rival the worst tragedies of the 20th century unless the government stops bombing what was once the commercial heart of Syria. And if the condition for calling a halt to air strikes was the expulsion of extremist fighters from the city, Mr de Mistura said he was willing to escort them out himself.
Addressing fighters from the former Jabhat Al Nusra, (now known as Jabhat Fatah Al Sham after breaking with Al Qaeda), Mr de Mistura said they were holding the 275,000 residents of east Aleppo hostage but acknowledged that the estimated 900 Jabhat Fatah Al Sham fighters in the area would “need some guarantees” of safe passage to Idlib province.
“If you decide to leave with dignity ... I am personally ready to physically accompany you,” he offered.
The UN envoy also asked the Syrian regime and its ally, Russia, if they would stop bombing if Jabhat Fatah Al Sham pulled out or if they were truly prepared to destroy Aleppo. One answer to that came from president Bashar Al Assad himself. In an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, the Syrian leader confirmed his forces would expel rebels if they refused to do a deal with the government similar to localised truces in other districts and towns between opposition groups and the regime.
That, he said, would be the “best option” for Aleppo. “Otherwise we continue the fight with the rebels till they leave Aleppo. There’s no other option.”
Mr de Mistura’s plea comes two weeks into an all-out government assault on opposition-held parts of Aleppo following the collapse of a short-lived and always shaky truce negotiated by Russia and the United States, and a day after the Syrian army announced a reduction in air strikes and artillery fire on Aleppo “to allow civilians to who want to leave to reach safe areas”.
The army statement continued ominously: “Anyone who does not take advantage of the opportunity to lay down their arms or leave will meet their inevitable fate.”
However, reports of Syrian regime gains with heavy fighting in the Bustan Al Basha district near central Aleppo caused analysts to dismiss the reduction declaration as little more than a public relations stunt.
“The regime and its allies have made a decision to conquer as much of eastern Aleppo as possible and they’re moving ahead on that,” said Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “I think such announcements are actually marginal. They are a PR gimmick.”
Syria expert Thomas Pierret from the University of Edinburgh said the move could be intended to undermine growing international pressure for intervention in east Aleppo, where numerous hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. “The aerial onslaught on Aleppo ... has bolstered Western proponents of a tougher approach,” said Mr Pierret. “A temporary halt or reduction of bombings could prevent interventionists from gaining further influence.”
Violence continued elsewhere in Syria on Thursday. An explosion in Atmeh, a northwestern village near the Turkish border, killed at least 29 people including several Turkish-backed opposition fighters. ISIL quickly claimed responsibity for the attack via its news agency, Amaq.
On Monday, bombs flattened the largest hospital in eastern Aleppo but president Al Assad denied that his forces were deliberately targeting medical sites or restricting aid to civilians.
“We never prevented any medical supply or food supply or any other thing from entering east Aleppo. There’s no embargo, if that’s what you mean,” he said. Destroying hospitals or schools would be “like shooting ourselves in the foot” because it would boost support for anti-regime groups, he added. The president also insisted that all opposition groups in Syria were extremist.
“Do you know the unicorn, the animal that’s like a horse, has a long horn? It’s a myth. And the moderate opposition is a myth,” he said.
Though Moscow and Washington have officially suspended talks about Syria, both sides have continued discussions informally by telephone – but with little sign of any progress.
Reports that the US was considering air strikes on Syrian troops prompted a swift counter-threat from Moscow. A US-led coalition air raid killed more than 60 Syrian government soldiers last month and the Russians do not believe the Americans’ explanation that it was a mistake or that ISIL were the intended target.
On Thursday, Russian defence ministry spokesman Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov said Russian forces would strike back without warning if Syrian forces were attacked. However Moscow also said it was “ready to work” on a draft UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Aleppo. The new proposal came from French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who said during a lightning visit to Moscow that “nothing can justify such a deluge of fire and of death” in Aleppo.
* Agencies
