Government Siege on Aleppo Could Trap Some 300,000 Civilians

The United Nations said on Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of civilians could soon be besieged within the rebel-held areas of Aleppo, warning of a mass exodus of residents toward the Turkish border.

An offensive launched last week by the Syrian army, with the help of allied militias and heavy Russian airstrikes, aims to secure the northern border with Turkey and retake control of Syria’s northernmost city, an adviser to Bashar al-Assad told Reuters.

The presidential adviser said she did not expect any diplomatic push in Geneva to succeed while foreign states back insurgents in Syria.

Pro-government forces are fighting to encircle the opposition areas of Aleppo, a move that would sever vital supply routes between the rebel-held areas and the Turkish border.

Government advances in Aleppo mark one of the most dramatic shifts in tempo of the five-year crisis and are a large reason behind the collapse last week of the peace talks. But if the forces continue to make progress in encircling the city, hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food aid.

“It would leave up to 300,000 people, still residing in the city, cut off from humanitarian aid unless cross-line access could be negotiated,” said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

If government advances continue, “local councils in the city estimate that some 100,000–150,000 civilians may flee,” OCHA said.

Turkey, home to some 2.5 million Syrians, the world’s largest refugee population, has kept its border closed during the latest wave of displacement. It has focused instead on delivering cross-border aid to some 50,000 people in 18 camps along the Turkish-Syrian border.

U.N. to Discuss Growing Humanitarian Crisis in Aleppo Ahead of Munich Talks

The U.N. Security Council is set to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis in Syria and the displacement of tens of thousands of people fleeing government advances in Aleppo, Reuters reports.

The closed-door discussion, requested by New Zealand and Spain, is set to take place on Wednesday.

“There are reports of at least 30,000 people displaced from Aleppo and it’s the middle of winter,” said New Zealand ambassador Gerard van Bohemen. “New Zealand and Spain considered this was a situation the Security Council could not ignore.”

The chances of the 15-nation Security Council reaching any sort of agreement on Wednesday are slim, as Russia, one of the strongest backers of the Syrian government, is one of the council’s five permanent veto powers.

The Security Council meeting comes one day before a meeting of international powers – including Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Iran – in Munich on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to breathe life back into the paused peace process.

Rebels have said they will not attend any talks without a halt to the bombing, and diplomats have said there is little hope for negotiations as long as the Russian-backed offensive in Aleppo continues.

“Russia’s activities from Aleppo and in the region are making it much more difficult to be able to come to the table and be able to have a serious conversation,” U.S. secretary of state John Kerry said.

ISIS Car Bomb Kills 10 in Damascus

A car bomb detonated close to a market and a police club in northern Damascus on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring many others in an attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State group, a monitor reported on Tuesday.

According to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the suicide bombing injured at least 20 people, with policemen among the dead and injured, the Associated Press reports.

The suicide bomber had been wearing a police uniform, the observatory said.

The extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on social media, saying one of its militants had detonated a car at a club for “criminal” police officers. The statement claimed the attack killed nearly 20 people and wounded 40 others.

The Syrian state news agency (SANA) said the attack targeted a vegetable market in the Masaken Barzeh district of the capital, later reporting that a car had attempted to drive into a police officers’ club, but was stopped by guards. SANA reported the attack killed three people and wounded 14 others.

Recommended Reads

• The Washington Post: Enough Is Enough – U.S. Abdication on Syria Must Come to an End
• Foreign Policy: Why Are Russian Engineers Working at an Islamic State-Controlled Gas Plant in Syria?
• The Washington Post: John Kerry’s Desperate Push on Syria
• Vox: Aleppo’s Disaster and Why It’s so Important for Syria’s War, Explained
• BuzzFeed: This Is What A Syrian City’s First Free Library Looks Like
• Al-Monitor: Will He, Won’t He? Turks Ponder Whether Erdogan Will Invade Syria

Top image: A Syrian child tries to protect herself from the cold weather at the Bab al-Salam border gate with Turkey, in Syria, on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. Tens of thousands of Syrians have rushed toward the Turkish border, fleeing fierce Syrian government offensives and intense Russian airstrikes. Turkey has promised humanitarian help for the displaced civilians, including food and shelter, but the border has remained closed. (Associated Press)