Thousands flee shifting front lines in east Aleppo

An advance by the Syrian government and its allies has raised fears among the insurgents that the northern part of rebel-held east Aleppo could be cut off from the southern part. That would weaken their control over the east and bring more residents closer to front lines

Syrian pro-government forces inspect an area of eastern Aleppo's Masaken Hanano district on November 27, 2016. George Ourfalian/AFP

BEIRUT // Thousands of residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo fled shifting front lines after an advance by the Syrian army and allied forces that rebels fear could split their most important urban stronghold in two.

The army took control on Saturday of the large Hanano housing district, on the north-east front line of the besieged eastern part of Aleppo. On Sunday they said they had captured the neighbouring district, Jabal Badro.

Neither area was heavily populated but the advance, accompanied by Russian and Syrian air strikes, has raised fears among the insurgents that the northern part of east Aleppo could be cut off from the southern part. That would weaken their control over the east and bring more residents closer to front lines.

Capturing all of Aleppo would be a major victory for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad after five and a half years of fighting that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 11 million others.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said more than 4,000 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo in the past 24 hours.

Nearly 1,700 civilians had fled to government-held parts of western Aleppo and another 2,500 to the Kurdish-controlled northern district of Sheikh Maksoud, the Observatory said.

Russian’s defence ministry, said on Sunday more than 900 civilians, including 119 children, had left Jabal Badro in the last 24 hours.

“We left Hanano because of the bombardment from the Syrian army during their advance, and the chlorine gas,” Muhammad, said.

He was waiting with his wife, mother and three children at a minibus stop, hoping to travel on to government-held west Aleppo. He said Hanano had contained about 200-300 families, but they had come and gone throughout the war depending on the intensity of strikes.

Aleppo, which was Syria’s biggest city before the war began in 2011, is divided between the government-held west and rebel-held east. UN officials say at least 250,000 people are under siege in the east.

There were also fierce clashes in areas adjacent to Hanano. Rebel sources say they are fighting back with difficulty in the face of sustained aerial bombardment.

“The revolutionary forces are reinforcing their defence lines on the edges of Hanano, steadfast in the defence of our people in Aleppo ... But the planes have destroyed everything, stones, trees and people, in a systematic policy of destruction,” said Yasser Al Yousef, from the political office of the Nour Al Din Al Zinki rebel group.

People are also being displaced internally within east Aleppo. Hundreds are moving south within the besieged sector to avoid being trapped in the smaller northern part should the government split it in two.

Elsewhere, Israeli forces killed four ISIL-linked gunmen after they fired on soldiers on Sunday in the occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli soldiers were targeted with machine-gun fire and mortars and they shot back, before the air force bombed the vehicle carrying the gunmen identified as members of “Shuhada Al Yarmouk, an ISIL affiliate”, an Israeli military spokesman said.

*Reuters and Agence Prance-Presse