Rebels Preventing Civilians From Leaving Aleppo, Say Activists

Activists claimed on Friday that rebels in the besieged eastern area of Aleppo city are preventing residents from fleeing to government-controlled territory, Agence France-Presse reported.

Only a few civilians got through the newly created humanitarian corridors before rebels prevented others from leaving, the activists said. On Thursday, Russia announced it would open four aid corridors for residents of rebel-held Aleppo, as well as fighters who wish to surrender, to leave the city. Syrian state media also said there would be an amnesty for fighters who chose to surrender and leave.

Russia, a key ally of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, used airstrikes to back a government advance on Aleppo that resulted in the besieging of rebel-held parts of the city on July 17 after cutting off the last supply route to the city earlier that month. Nearly 300,000 people were left trapped inside the rebel-held neighborhoods, with no access to food or medical aid.

The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the government targeted eastern Aleppo with airstrikes again Thursday night. SOHR reported the closure of the four humanitarian corridors from the rebel side on Friday, but activists say the corridors are open from the government’s side of the city.

“Around 12 people managed to use the Bustan al-Qasr corridor before rebel groups reinforced security measures and prevented families from approaching the corridors,” said SOHR’s director Rami Abdulrahman.

The High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian main opposition has criticized the humanitarian corridors, saying the Syrian government and their Russian backers were attempting to forcibly displace people and change Aleppo’s demographics.

Jabhat al-Nusra Splits From Al-Qaida, Rebrands

Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, has released an exclusive video to Al-Jazeera, announcing its split from al-Qaida and a change of the group’s name.

Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, appeared on camera for the first time to give the announcement, saying the group’s name is now Jabhat Fath al-Sham, or The Front for the Conquest of Syria/Levant.

Joulani first thanked al-Qaida and its leaders, before saying that Jabhat al-Nusra is changing its name, and will no longer have affiliations to “any external entity.”

Text on the video gives as reasons for the announced split: “fulfilling the requests of the people of al-Sham to expose the deceptions of the international community, the leaders being the U.S. and Russia, in their relentless bombing and displacement of the Muslim masses of al-Sham under the pretenses of targeting Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida affiliate.”

On June 30, the Obama administration proposed a U.S. military and intelligence partnership with Russia in Syria that would target Jabhat al-Nusra and prohibit the Syrian government from using its air force to target Western-backed rebels. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that he hoped to announce the details of the proposed partnership in early August.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby told Reuters that the name change would not affect the U.S. stance on Jabhat al-Nusra.

ISIS Takes Village Near Manbij, Executes 24 Civilians

The so-called Islamic State group has executed 24 civilians in the past 24 hours in a village near Manbij, according the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

AFP reports that the militant group took the village, Buyir, from the Kurdish-Arab alliance Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Sitting six miles (10km) northwest of Manbij, the village is strategically located between the Turkish border and Raqqa, the self-proclaimed ISIS capital.

On May 31, the SDF launched an offensive against ISIS to retake the city of Manbij, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes. They have been criticized by locals and human rights groups for claiming dozens of civilian lives. The Pentagon has responded by launching a formal investigation into the reported civilian casualties.

Recommended Reads:

• Carnegie Middle East Center: The Coast in Conflict: Migration, Sectarianism and Decentralization in Syria’s Latakia and Tartus Governorates
• BBC: Rio 2016: The Syrian Refugee Who Swam for Her Life – All The Way to the Olympics
• The Daily Beast: ISIS Wants a Global Civil War
• The Los Angeles Times: How Hillary Clinton’s Plans Break From Obama’s Policies on Syria, Trade and Other Issues
• Human Rights Watch: Syria/Russia: Safe Corridors Don’t End Duty to Avoid Civilian Loss