NGOs call for humanitarian corridor in Aleppo

Leading international humanitarian organisations called for the opening of secure corridors in Aleppo yesterday in order to evacuate the many wounded civilians in the city’s opposition-held eastern districts that are currently being bombarded by the Assad regime and its Russian backers.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) have stressed that the sick and wounded should be moved from Aleppo to safe zones where they can receive urgent medical care.

Tarik Jasarevic, spokesman for the WHO, stated that his organisation had made a medical evacuation request to the Syrian health authorities in order to facilitate the provision of medical aid either in regime-held western Aleppo or in medical facilities close to nearby Idlib.

Speaking for the ICRC, Krista Armstrong confirmed that their medical teams have been working tirelessly in eastern Aleppo to save lives, but that they lack the ability and facilities to address emergency and specialist cases resulting from the Moscow-backed Assad regime’s bombardment.

According to the WHO, only 35 doctors remain in eastern Aleppo despite an urgent need for medical professionals. With mounting civilian casualties resulting from the Syrian regime’s latest violence against the besieged city, Aleppo’s medical facilities are being stretched to their limits.

The Syrian Civil Defence organisation, better known as the White Helmets, documented 1,700 airstrikes on eastern Aleppo since the US-Russian brokered ceasefire collapsed nine days ago, many of which utilised cluster munitions, white phosphorus and napalm bombs.

Almost 900 civilians have lost their lives to the Russian-Syrian airstrikes on eastern Aleppo in the past week, including almost 200 women and children.