GENEVA/AMMAN: A senior United Nations official warned on Thursday that thousands of people evacuated from opposition-held areas of Aleppo after a crushing regime offensive could suffer the same fate in their new place of refuge outside the city.
UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said a cessation of hostilities across Syria was vital if another battle like the bloody fight for Aleppo was to be avoided.
At least 34,000 people, both civilians and fighters, had been evacuated from east Aleppo in a weeklong operation, the latest UN figures show.
“Many of them have gone to Idlib, which could be in theory the next Aleppo,” de Mistura warned in Geneva.
Thousands of refugees from Aleppo were ferried to Idlib, arousing fears that the opposition-held city in northwestern Syria could be next. Syrian President Bashar Assad has declared that the war is far from over and that his armed forces would march on other opposition-held areas.
Evacuees from Aleppo had expressed concerns about being taken to Idlib and a senior European diplomat said earlier this month that this would suit Russia, Assad’s main military backer, as it would put “all their rotten eggs in one basket.”
Assad said that regaining full control of Aleppo was a victory shared by his Russian and Iranian allies.
In comments after meeting a senior Iranian delegation, Assad said his battlefield successes were a “basic step on the road to ending terrorism in the whole of Syria and creating the right circumstances for a solution to end the war.”
Russia’s air force conducted hundreds of raids that pulverized opposition-held parts of Aleppo while Iranian-backed militias, led by Hezbollah, poured thousands of fighters to fight the opposition into the city.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday that Russian airstrikes in Syria had killed 35,000 opposition fighters and halted a chain of revolutions in the Middle East.
Speaking at a gathering of senior military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russia’s military achievements, Shoigu said Moscow’s intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state.
Those leaving Aleppo are not only going to Idlib, the name of a city and province southwest of Aleppo, but to villages in the countryside in Aleppo province that lies west and north of the city and has also been heavily bombed.
Ahmed Kara Ali, spokesman for Ahrar Al-Sham, an opposition group that is involved in departure negotiations, told Reuters “large numbers” were left but it was difficult to estimate how many remained, beyond it being in the thousands.
Hundreds of other people are also still being evacuated from two villages besieged by opposition fighters near Idlib and taken to regime lines in Aleppo, part of the deal that has allowed insurgents to withdraw from the city carrying light weapons.
Russia is not discussing the future of Assad in its talks with Iran and Turkey, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
The foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Moscow on Tuesday and agreed to help broker a new peace deal for Syria.
De Mistura said that cessation of hostilities across Syria was a “priority” and having “regional players like Turkey, Russia and Iran talk to each other is a good thing.”
Quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin, de Mistura said talks expected to be held in Kazakhstan were “not considered a competition, it is complementary and a support to the preparation of the UN role (in Syrian peace talks) on Feb. 8.”
De Mistura praised the agreement between Turkey and Russia that paved the way for the evacuation and welcomed the joint initiative by the three regional powers for talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana, ahead of UN peace talks he has convened in Geneva from Feb. 8.
“That is why we have been welcoming the Astana initiative. We will welcome any other initiative in that direction so we can wrap it up as we always hoped with some type of totally inclusive international engagement,” he said.
“The priority remains the cessation of hostilities,” he said.
UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said a cessation of hostilities across Syria was vital if another battle like the bloody fight for Aleppo was to be avoided.
At least 34,000 people, both civilians and fighters, had been evacuated from east Aleppo in a weeklong operation, the latest UN figures show.
“Many of them have gone to Idlib, which could be in theory the next Aleppo,” de Mistura warned in Geneva.
Thousands of refugees from Aleppo were ferried to Idlib, arousing fears that the opposition-held city in northwestern Syria could be next. Syrian President Bashar Assad has declared that the war is far from over and that his armed forces would march on other opposition-held areas.
Evacuees from Aleppo had expressed concerns about being taken to Idlib and a senior European diplomat said earlier this month that this would suit Russia, Assad’s main military backer, as it would put “all their rotten eggs in one basket.”
Assad said that regaining full control of Aleppo was a victory shared by his Russian and Iranian allies.
In comments after meeting a senior Iranian delegation, Assad said his battlefield successes were a “basic step on the road to ending terrorism in the whole of Syria and creating the right circumstances for a solution to end the war.”
Russia’s air force conducted hundreds of raids that pulverized opposition-held parts of Aleppo while Iranian-backed militias, led by Hezbollah, poured thousands of fighters to fight the opposition into the city.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday that Russian airstrikes in Syria had killed 35,000 opposition fighters and halted a chain of revolutions in the Middle East.
Speaking at a gathering of senior military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russia’s military achievements, Shoigu said Moscow’s intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state.
Those leaving Aleppo are not only going to Idlib, the name of a city and province southwest of Aleppo, but to villages in the countryside in Aleppo province that lies west and north of the city and has also been heavily bombed.
Ahmed Kara Ali, spokesman for Ahrar Al-Sham, an opposition group that is involved in departure negotiations, told Reuters “large numbers” were left but it was difficult to estimate how many remained, beyond it being in the thousands.
Hundreds of other people are also still being evacuated from two villages besieged by opposition fighters near Idlib and taken to regime lines in Aleppo, part of the deal that has allowed insurgents to withdraw from the city carrying light weapons.
Russia is not discussing the future of Assad in its talks with Iran and Turkey, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
The foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Moscow on Tuesday and agreed to help broker a new peace deal for Syria.
De Mistura said that cessation of hostilities across Syria was a “priority” and having “regional players like Turkey, Russia and Iran talk to each other is a good thing.”
Quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin, de Mistura said talks expected to be held in Kazakhstan were “not considered a competition, it is complementary and a support to the preparation of the UN role (in Syrian peace talks) on Feb. 8.”
De Mistura praised the agreement between Turkey and Russia that paved the way for the evacuation and welcomed the joint initiative by the three regional powers for talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana, ahead of UN peace talks he has convened in Geneva from Feb. 8.
“That is why we have been welcoming the Astana initiative. We will welcome any other initiative in that direction so we can wrap it up as we always hoped with some type of totally inclusive international engagement,” he said.
“The priority remains the cessation of hostilities,” he said.
