Tens of thousands flee Aleppo as humanitarian crisis worsens

More than 50,000 people have been forced from their homes in Syria's embattled city of Aleppo, a monitoring group said, as rebels struggling to withstand President Bashar al-Assad's offensive debated how to cope with a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Mr Assad’s forces have now seized more than 40 per cent of the rebel-held districts of Aleppo, which for four years had been divided between government forces on the west and the opposition on the east.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a rising flow of families on the run, some retreating deeper into rebel areas and camping out in bombed-out buildings. Others fled to areas recaptured by the government, laying out blankets to sleep with their children outside in the cold.

On Wednesday a heavy bombardment hit Aleppo's Jabb al-Qobba neighbourhood. Activists said most of those killed were people trying to flee, while the regime claimed the attack was carried out by rebels.

The battle for Aleppo has been the bloodiest yet in the struggle between Mr Assad and the rebels seeking his oust him. It may also be the most strategically important of the five-year civil war.

Backed by Russian warplanes in the air and foreign Shia fighters on the ground, Mr Assad is seeking to push the rebels out of the city. Doing so would remove the opposition’s last major urban stronghold. But about 250,000 people are trapped inside those areas alongside the rebels, enduring horrific conditions including aerial bombardments day and night.

Activists held hours of talks on Tuesday night with rebel groups and other community leaders, divided between those who believe the opposition must find a way out – either through a deal with the regime or via an escape route – or holding on to fight. Ultimately, their decision was "steadfastness", said Bassam Haj Mustafa, spokesman for the Nour al-Din al-Zinki forces, one of the rebel groups.

But privately, some local leaders believe this strategy is a mistake and say it is time to accept that their population is exhausted and worn down by a months-long siege and heavy bombardment.

“What steadfastness are we talking about when everyone is dying?” asked a local council leader, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. “Most people want to flee. When I walk through the streets now, every person who recognises me – whether they are civilians or fighters – ask me the same thing: ‘What happened? When will we get to leave and rest? Help us with this, please’.”

Displaced families

For those who fled toward government-held areas, the suffering continues. Some activists say hundreds of men aged 18-35 were taken by security forces for questioning and are now missing, although it was not possible to verify those claims.

In one video uploaded in a government-held area, Shia hymns were blared on a car radio among crowds of displaced families huddled on streets and sidewalks. It appeared to be a political message from Shia fighters who bolstered the government offensive to the city’s mostly Sunni residents.

Syria's conflict began as a protest movement against Assad family rule but devolved into a confusing civil war with sectarian overtones. Jihadi groups have latched on to the uprising fuelled by Syria's Sunni majority, while Mr Assad, a member of the country's Alawite sect, has relied on help from Shia power Iran and Shia militias from Iraq and Lebanon.

For those fleeing to other rebel areas the situation is even more critical. Some activists in Aleppo talk of walking through streets littered with corpses, unable to move them amid the fighting.

"The worst thing of all has been bringing wounded to a clinic but finding the doctor so overwhelmed the patient has to wait. I have had to watch men die slowly and painfully," said Mohammed Khandaqani, a rescue worker in the city.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016