The United Nations said on Tuesday it had reports of Syrian government troops and allied Iraqi militia killing civilians in eastern Aleppo, including 82 people in four different neighborhoods in the last few days.
Thousands of people have fled the front lines of fighting in Aleppo on Tuesday as the Syrian military advanced on the final pocket of rebel resistance. A senior Turkish official also said Russia and Turkey would meet to try to set up an evacuation corridor.
Rupert Colville, spokesman of the UN human rights office, voiced deep fear of retribution against thousands of civilians still believed to be holed up in a "hellish corner" of less than a square kilometer of opposition-held areas.
"In all as of yesterday (Monday) evening we have received reports of pro-government forces killing least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, in 4 different neighborhoods," Colville told a news briefing, adding that there could be "many more."
In a statement, the UN said that multiple sources reported that tens of civilians were shot dead yesterday in four different neighbourhoods — Bustan al-Qasr, al-Ferdous, al-Kallaseh, and al-Saleheen — by government forces and their allies, including allegedly the Iraqi al-Nujabaa armed group.
The conflict in Aleppo is nearing its end as Syrian government forces have retaken most of the city, but an estimated 100,000 people are still stuck in the centre of east Aleppo and many of them have shared on goodbye messages on social media.
"The reports we had are of people being shot in the street trying to flee and shot in their homes." Jens Laerke, UN humanitarian spokesman said that it looked like "a complete meltdown of humanity in Aleppo."
Many unaccompanied children, possibly more than 100, are trapped in a building that is under heavy attack in besieged eastern Aleppo in Syria, the UN children's agency UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday, citing an unnamed doctor in the city.
“According to alarming reports from a doctor in the city, many children, possibly more than 100, unaccompanied or separated from their families, are trapped in a building, under heavy attack in east Aleppo," UNICEF Regional Director Geert Cappelaere said in the statement.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Tuesday that the international community could not let the situation continue and warned that populations of other rebel-held towns could face the same fate.
"The crushing of Aleppo, the immeasurably terrifying toll on its people, the bloodshed, the wanton slaughter of men, women and children, the destruction – and we are nowhere near the end of this cruel conflict. What can happen next, if the international community continues to collectively wring its hands, can be much more dangerous. What is happening with Aleppo could repeat itself in Douma, in Raqqa, in Idlib.
"The world is watching Aleppo – and we are documenting the violations being committed against its people, with the firm conviction that one day those who are responsible will be held to account. We must ensure that this happens. The hellish suffering to which the people of Syria are being subjected must stop."
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