Aleppo-based council calls for safeguarding civilians

By Ali Abo Rezeg

ALEPPO, Syria

The Aleppo Leadership Council, which is made up of several armed Syrian opposition groups, tabled a four-point plan on Wednesday aimed at safeguarding the city’s civilian population.

In a statement, the council said its new initiative was intended as a means of "affirming the value of the lives and property of the Syrian people" and "avoiding further civilian casualties and suffering".

According to the statement, the new initiative consists of four points: an immediate five-day humanitarian ceasefire; evacuation of all residents requiring emergency treatment (estimated at 500) from the city; evacuation of all civilians wishing to leave Aleppo to the city’s northern countryside; and eventual negotiations to determine the city’s future.

The council went on to note that it had agreed to two similar initiatives proposed by the EU (on Oct. 7 and Nov. 3), emphasizing: "We will support any regional or international initiative that will help ease our people’s suffering."

The statement concluded by blaming Aleppo’s dire humanitarian situation on the failure of "stakeholder states in general and the global powers in particular to live up to their moral obligations".

Since mid-November, more than 775 civilians have been killed -- and 2,500 others injured -- in regime attacks on opposition-held parts of Aleppo, according to local civil defense officials.

The fierce bombardments have forced most of the city’s hospitals to halt operations while most academic activities have been suspended.

The recent escalation comes within the context of attempts by the Russia-backed Assad regime to wrest control of eastern parts of Aleppo that were captured by armed opposition groups four years ago.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.