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Assad Forces, Allied Militias Accused of Carrying Out Field Executions of Aleppo Residents

Witnesses describe the horror of the full-scale destruction of Aleppo's rebel-held districts while UN cites reports indicating scores of residents have been executed while attempting to flee their homes over the past few days
Assad Forces, Allied Militias Accused of Carrying Out Field Executions of Aleppo Residents

The pace of events in the besieged districts of the city of Aleppo is accelerating while the suffering of thousands is increasing, as reports emerged of field executions by regime forces and foreign militias against families in districts captured by pro-Assad forces on Monday.

Wael, a rebel fighter in Jaish Halab (Army of Aleppo) in the besieged districts told Alsouria Net that the foreign militias carried out field executions against civilians who were living in the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood when they entered the area.

He said that many families had lost contact with some members when the foreign militias entered the district, as some were imprisoned while performing their humanitarian duties in helping those wounded during the heavy bombardment of the area.

Wael explained the humanitarian situation, saying: “Words fail to describe what we are enduring at this moment. We are in an area which is about 1,000 meters in size while lost civilians, with nowhere safe left for them to go, take their chances in the streets moving from one place to another as the rockets and mortars fall like rain.”

He adds: “A large number of residents in this small patch mean that a bullet can hurt someone — and an uninterrupted barrage of missiles and mortars can cause a massacre.”

Wael described some of the tragedies by saying: “I saw many people under the rubble waiting for death as well as many corpses, most of them women and children, being ravaged by cats and dogs because it is not possible to bury them in graves or remove them from under the wreckage.”

He added: “Men and women were under the rubble as a result of the heavy bombardment which the besieged districts were subjected to and have become prisoners at the hands of foreign militias in light of the terrible silence from everyone, foremost the backers of the Syrian revolution.”

Abdelrahman, one of those under siege, said that some residents were forced to sleep overnight in the street in a district he preferred not to name out of fear it would be targeted. He added: “The situation is very very hard. Every day we die a thousand deaths. Men are close to tears out of horror for what they see — so what about the women?”

Even rescue teams have stopped work in Aleppo’s districts, doctor Abou Mohamed, who was saved from death several times, told Alsouria Net. He said that, “The civil defense teams were unable to work because of the lack of necessary equipment to perform their humanitarian tasks, and the medical teams stopped serving the wounded, even those lightly wounded, and so the wounded are at the mercy of death. Some of the spots we had taken to do treatment have been bombed with chlorine gas.”

He added: “Days ago the medical situation was much better, as we were using specific places to perform operations, whereby more than half the wounded could be saved. But now the situation is close to impossible.

Foreign militias on Monday had taken control of a number of besieged neighborhoods, more prominently Khan al-Sheikh Saeed, Al-Fardous, Bustan al-Qasr, and Al-Kalasa, as the battle moved to the outskirts of the Sukari district.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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