Russia Says It Will Open Corridors for Residents, Rebels to Leave Eastern Aleppo

Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu announced today that “exit corridors” will be opened for civilians and unarmed rebels to leave eastern Aleppo, BBC News reported.

Eastern rebel-held Aleppo has been under siege since government forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, cut off the only supply route to the city on July 7, trapping some 300,000 residents inside with no access to food, medicine or aid supplies. The U.N. has warned of a potential humanitarian catastrophe there.

On Monday, the U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said that “food supplies are expected to run out in mid-August and many medical facilities continue to be attacked.”

Russia, the Syrian government’s ally, said four routes would be opened out of the city, including one for armed rebels, in what Shoigu described as a “large-scale humanitarian operation,” stressing that the foremost goal is to ensure the safety of Aleppo’s residents. Shoigu welcomed cooperation from international aid organizations, saying the corridors would include medical posts and food distribution.

According to SANA, Syria’s state-run news outlet, President Bashar al-Assad issued a new decree on Thursday saying he would also offer amnesty to any rebel fighter who surrenders within three months.

“Everyone carrying arms … and sought by justice … is excluded from full punishment if they hand themselves in and lay down their weapons,” the decree said.

Syrian and Russian Use of Cluster Munitions ‘Relentless’: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday that the Syrian government and Russia have been using banned cluster munitions “relentlessly,” Agence France Presse reported.

HRW said that the 47 cluster munitions attacks documented since May 27 had killed and injured dozens of civilians in rebel-held areas.

The human rights organization documented attacks in three different provinces, the majority of them in the Aleppo suburbs, coinciding with the government operation to seize opposition-held areas of Aleppo city.

In December 2015, HRW said it had documented 20 cluster munitions attacks since the Russian intervention in Syria at the end of September 2015.

“Although Russia and Syria are not members of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, they are still bound by international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, which prohibits indiscriminate attacks,” HRW said.

Cluster munitions can be fired from rockets, or dropped from the air, and contain hundreds of smaller “bomblets.” They are indiscriminate, spreading the explosion and continuing to kill, injure and destroy as the smaller explosives detonate successively.

International Coalition Fighting ISIS in Syria to Formally Investigate Civilian Deaths

A spokesperson for the international coalition fighting ISIS said on Wednesday that it has opened a formal investigation into claims that airstrikes it carried out last week killed civilians near Manbij, Agence France Presse reported.

Monitors and local residents alike said U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on July 19 had killed dozens of civilians, which led the main Syrian opposition party to ask the coalition to put its strikes on hold. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 56 civilians had died in airstrikes on a village near Manbij.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Chris Garver said there was enough credible evidence of civilians killed to start a formal investigation, estimating the number of deaths near Manbij to range between 10 and 73. He has previously accused ISIS of using civilians as human shields.

Recommended Reads

• The Guardian: Revealed: The £1bn of Weapons Flowing From Europe to Middle East
• The New York Times: Afghans Go to Syria to Fight for Its Government, and Anguish Results
• The National: Against All Odds, Village Republics Take Hold in Syria
• The Associated Press: Why Syria’s al-Qaida May Be Considering a Split
• ABC News: ‘Massive Amounts’ of ISIS Intelligence Recovered in Syria