More Uprooted as Ground Fighting, Russian Airstrikes Increase

U.N. officials confirmed on Tuesday that intensified fighting in Syria has displaced tens of thousands of people – some of them left with nowhere to go and staying in open fields – as ground battles and airstrikes intensify, the Associated Press reports.

Activists said that Russian airstrikes had killed at least 45 people in Syria’s coastal Latakia province, including a rebel commander who once served in the Syrian army. If confirmed, the strike will be the deadliest since Russia embarked on its aerial campaign on September 30.

The wave of Russian airstrikes has enabled Syrian government troops and allied Hezbollah fighters to launch a series of ground attacks in southern, central and northern Syria, as well as in rebel-held areas in the Damascus suburbs.

Nearly 35,000 people have been displaced from the villages of Hader and Zerbeh in the southwestern edges of the city of Aleppo over the past several days, according to a U.N. official in Geneva.

“Many people are living with host families and in the informal settlements in areas west of the city,” said Vanessa Huguenin, spokeswoman for the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “People urgently need food and basic household and shelter items,” she said, adding that concern is mounting for those living outdoors as the weather becomes increasingly colder.

The Syrian American Medical Society, whose volunteer team of medical personnel on the ground are treating victims and reporting on attacks, told the Associated Press that Russian airstrikes had targeted southern Aleppo’s only two hospitals. This, it said, had forced both medical centers to evacuate patients.

Assad Makes Surprise Trip to Moscow

Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly called his Syrian counterpart to Moscow for an impromptu visit to allow the two to chat about their joint military operations in Syria and the future political transition in the war-torn country, the New York Times reports.

Putin reportedly told Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during their Tuesday meeting that Moscow was ready to contribute to the “fight against terrorism” and to a political settlement of the conflict. Assad, for his part, gave the Russian leader a briefing on the current situation on the ground and future military steps.

The trip, supposedly Assad’s first outside Syria since the civil war began in 2011, underlines how Russia’s recent military intervention in Syria’s bloody civil war has significantly shifted the beleaguered president’s military and political horizons.

In a brief statement released by the Kremlin, Putin said, “On the question of a settlement in Syria, our position is that positive results in military operations will lay the basis for then working out a long-term settlement, based on a political process that involves all political forces, ethnic and religious groups.

“Ultimately,” he said, “it is the Syrian people alone who must have the deciding voice here.”

U.S., Russia Agree Rules on Syrian Flights

Moscow and Washington signed an agreement on Tuesday regulating all aircraft and drone flights over Syria, as announced by the defense departments of both countries.

U.S. defense department press secretary Peter Cook told members of the press at the Pentagon on Monday that the agreement called for a memorandum of understanding, and established safety protocols that require Russian pilots and those belonging to the U.S.-led coalition to maintain “professional airmanship at all times,” the New York Times reports. All pilots are required to use specific communication frequencies and establish a communication line on the ground.

Russia’s deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov, said in a Defense Ministry statement, “The memorandum contains a set of rules and restrictions aimed at preventing incidents between the Russian and U.S. aviation.”

There have been several close “incidents” since Russia began its air campaign in Syria over two weeks ago. On two occasions, Russian jets few within 1,500 and 500 feet of American aircraft, although the close approach was reportedly conducted in a non-threatening manner.

The text of the memorandum has not been released due to a Russian request that it remain private, according to Cook. He also declined to elaborate on the specifics of the ground communication line, but suggested it would serve as an emergency resource to “have real-time conversations” in the event that air communications fail.

Russian Air Raids in Syria: 127 Civilians Dead

Russia’s air campaign in Syria has killed 370 people since it began on September 30, nearly a third of them civilians, the AFP reports.

According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as of Tuesday morning, Russian airstrikes have killed 243 rebel fighters, including 52 jihadist militants belonging to the Islamic State group (ISIS), along with 127 civilians.

Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said that among the civilians, 36 of those killed were children and 34 were women.

Although Moscow has said the goal of its air campaign in Syria, which began last month in coordination with forces loyal to President Assad, is to destroy the Islamic State and other “terrorists,” nearly 90 percent of the targets it has struck thus far have been non-ISIS-related rebel forces.

Top Image: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, second left, shakes hand with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on Tuesday Oct. 20, 2015, as Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, looks on in the Kremlin in Moscow. Assad was in Moscow, in his first known trip abroad since the war broke out in Syria in 2011, to meet his strongest ally. (Alexei Druzhinin / AP Photo)

Recommended Reads

• BBC: Iran Quietly Deepens Involvement in Syria’s War
• NPR: A Teen Who Fled Syria Had High Hopes for Her Life in Lebanon
• The Atlantic: The Civilian Toll of Russia’s Bombing Campaign
• Bloomberg: Assad Cousin Sparks Backlash with Washington Speech
• Ha’aretz: Syrian Swamp May Demand More Russian Boots on the Battleground