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Syria: 1000s of East Aleppo citizens flee for govt. controlled areas after army advances (w/ VIDEO)

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Civilians escaping from East Aleppo today after a massive advance by the Syrian Army.

 
Geopolmonitor reports:

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that almost 10,000 civilians have fled Eastern Aleppo to government-held parts of city’s west and Kurdish controlled northern district of Sheikh Maksoud.
The Coventry-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, said that in the last 24 hours, families had managed to escape areas controlled by armed militant factions, seeking refuge in government and Kurdish held areas.
In the city’s northern part, now mostly controlled by government forces, “rebels have lost at least 30 percent of the territory they once controlled in Aleppo,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said
Rapid advancement and recent gains by the Syrian army have allowed civilians to escape districts held by armed groups, who have been accused of withholding aid and preventing non-combatants from seeking refuge in the government controlled west and the Kurdish dominated north of the city. […]

Translation of the tweet above:
Hundreds of civilians who came out of the eastern neighborhoods of the city [Aleppo].

A related Al Masdar News report:

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (2:40 P.M.) – For the first time in two years, the residents of Aleppo will have consistent running water after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) finally expelled the jihadist rebels occupying the Suleiman Al-Halabi Water Pumping Station.
Shutting off water to the residents of government-held Aleppo was one of the ways that the jihadist rebels would punish the civilians for not backing their forces.
Over time, the Syrian government would find ways to work around this problem; however, their fixes were always temporary and limited to certain neighborhoods.
With the Suleiman Al-Halabi Water Pumping Station under their control, the Syrian government can supply water to over 1 million residents in Aleppo, ending one of the biggest problems plaguing the city. […]

 

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Syrian soldiers inside Aleppo’s water pumping station today

Related story:

Jihadist rebels officially surrender last West Ghouta stronghold to Syrian Army


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Filed under: conflict zones, latest