Civilians leaving eastern Aleppo via corridors set up by army

Dozens of Syrian families have left the besieged militant-controlled eastern parts of Aleppo through humanitarian passages set up by the Syrian army.

The civilians crossed into Aleppo’s Salaheddine neighborhood and were taken to makeshift centers, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported on Saturday.

The families “left via the corridors identified ... to allow the exit of citizens besieged by terrorist groups in the eastern districts,” the report said, adding, “They were welcomed by members of the army and taken by bus to temporary shelters.”

The Syrian state TV showed women and children leaving the city along a street lined with damaged buildings.

A number of militants have laid down their weapons and surrendered themselves to government troops after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed amnesty for militants who turn in their arms.

The evacuation came two days after the Syrian government, backed by Russia, launched a large-scale humanitarian relief operation in Aleppo and created corridors providing civilians and the militants, who chose to surrender, the opportunity to leave the northern Syrian city.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that 169 civilians had left Aleppo since Thursday through safety crossings. It further noted that 69 militants had handed themselves in to the Syrian army.

This is while some sources close to the militants claim the corridors set up by the Syrian army are not operational.

Between 200,000 and 300,000 people are believed to still reside in eastern Aleppo, with the UN warning that food supplies will run out in the militant-held region in mid-August.

On Friday, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the Takfiri militant groups were preventing civilians from fleeing Aleppo through the corridors.

The civilians, who made it out of the besieged areas, told Syria TV about their ordeals while living under militant control.

“They (militants) did not allow us to leave, they deprived us of gas, water, electricity and bread. We were not allowed to leave. There were no medicines. They used to tell us you live with us or die with us,” one woman said.

Press TV correspondent in Aleppo said factories and industrial complexes in the area have been looted and destroyed during the militant occupation.

Aleppo has been roughly divided between government forces in the west and militants in the east since mid-2012.

Army forces are in the middle of a large military operation to liberate the militant-held parts of the province.

In their latest gains against the terrorists operating there, Syrian forces managed to retake control of Aleppo’s Bani Zeid neighborhood.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011. The Takfiri terrorists operating in the Arab country have suffered major setbacks over the past few months as the Syrian army has managed to liberate several areas from the grip of the extremists.

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.

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