Aleppo: „Verlasst die Stadt oder werdet vernichtet“

„On Monday, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad captured about a third of the territory in Aleppo that had been held by rebels. Planes have dropped leaflets over the rebel-held areas in the eastern part of city. ‚If you don’t leave these areas quickly you will be annihilated,‘ the leaflets warn. ‚Save yourselves. You know that everyone has left you alone to face your doom and have offered you no help.‘ Hisham al-Skeif, a member of a council of rebels and civilians in eastern Aleppo, said by telephone on Tuesday that warplanes had hovered closely over the area, steadily dropping barrel bombs, as a delegation of civic activists explored the idea of using so-called safe routes to leave the city, though many were not confident they could escape with their lives. (…)

Rami Jarrah, a Syrian anti-government activist and citizen journalist who is based in Turkey but regularly travels to rebel-held Aleppo, said via Facebook that he did not believe that there was such a thing as safe passage. Five years into the civil war, he said, many of those remaining in eastern Aleppo are on the Assad government’s ‚black list,‘ having participated in protests or openly defied it. ‚All have lost loved ones or have family members who are fighting to protect the city,‘ he said. ‚The Syrian regime does not tolerate any form of opposition to its narrative, and this means that leaving eastern Aleppo through ‘safe’ passageways that have been set up by Assad’s forces is not an option for the vast majority of the population.‘“