Syria: Terrorists Continue to Gun Down Civilians Fleeing from Eastern Aleppo

“Commanders of terrorist groups have ordered their combatants via wireless communication and radio devices to gun down the people who try to leave the militant-held neighborhoods in the Eastern part of Aleppo,” the sources said.

The terrorists try to prevent civilians from leaving Eastern Aleppo to use them as human shields and accuse the government forces of killing civilians in a bid to used the ensuing public opinion and western media pressures on Damascus.

After thousands of civilians escaped the terrorist-held areas in Eastern Aleppo following the government troops’ crushing victories over the militants in recent days, the militant groups have assigned a large number of their forces to the mission to prevent people from fleeing Aleppo. The militants have thus far killed or wounded tens of civilians in their fresh round of shooting spree on fleeing crowds.

The terrorist groups gunned down eight civilians fleeing the Eastern districts towards army-controlled regions and blamed the army soldiers for their killing on Saturday.

In several demonstrations in recent weeks, the Syrian civilians have called for exit of militant from their residential areas.

The civilians that have left Eastern Aleppo in recent days were carrying Syrian government flags and chanting pro-government slogans.

Concurrent with army’s advances in recent days, the terrorist groups’ missile units targeted the Eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo city, killing or wounding several civilians.

A Syrian Democratic Council member said late in November that the terrorists of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) targeted areas near the Syrian government-established humanitarian corridors, blocking exit paths of civilians who sought to leave militant-held neighborhoods in the Eastern part of Aleppo city.

 “The FSA militants deployed in Bostan al-Pasha district Northeast of Aleppo targeted the humanitarian corridors with mortar shells and gas cylinders and prevented at least 200 civilians from leaving the Eastern districts of Aleppo city,” Member of the Syrian Democratic Council Rizan Hadou said.

“200 civilians tried to leave the Eastern districts of Aleppo but faced heavy fire of the terrorists in a neighborhood between the districts of Sheikh Maqsoud and Bostan al-Pasha and were forced to return again to Bostan al-Pasha,” Hadou added.

In the meantime, the Russian Peace Center in Syrian said that nine civilians and three militants left the Eastern districts of Aleppo at the time, while the state news agency of Sana reported that a new group of civilians, including women and children managed to leave Eastern Aleppo.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced at the time that a number of citizens and militants managed to flee the Eastern districts of Aleppo and reached a Syrian army post outside the city.

A sum of 10 civilians and seven militants could leave the terrorist-controlled areas in Eastern Aleppo, the ministry said in late November.