This time it seems that it is RT and the Russian media that is leaving something out of the narrative
Video
Shows Tens Of Thousands Massing At Turkey Border As Russia, Iran Bear
Down On Key Syrian City
5
February, 2016
On
Thursday we
brought you the latest from
Syria, where Hezbollah and the IRGC have encircled Aleppo and cut off
rebel supply lines to Turkey.
It
was months in the making, but it now appears that the city - Syria’s
second largest - will soon be retaken by forces loyal to Bashar
al-Assad. As we’ve explained in the past, that would effectively
restore the President’s grip on power as he would effectively
control most of the country’s urban centers - even if that
“control” is tenuous.
Eastern
Syria is of course a different story entirely, as ISIS is dug in at
Raqqa, the group’s self-styled capital. If the rebels lose Aleppo,
it will represent a huge blow to the effort to topple Assad’s
government. Saudi Arabia and Turkey know this, which is presumably
why Erdogan was busy criticizing the Russian airstrikes that have
facilitated the Hezbollah advance yesterday and why Riyadh now says
it’s prepared to send in ground troops (to “fight ISIS”).
Now, as
the Russian air campaign continues unabated and Shiite fighters
advance on the city, civilians are fleeing what they anticipate will
be a bloody battle.
"The
Russian (air) cover continues night and day, there were more than 250
air strikes on this area in one day," Hassan Haj Ali, head of
Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, a group that fights under the umbrella of the
Free Syrian Army, said.
“Tens
of thousands of Syrians fled an intensifying Russian assault around
Aleppo on Friday, and aid workers said they feared the city which
once held two million people could soon fall under a full government
siege,” Reuters
writes.
“The last 24 hours saw government troops and their Lebanese and
Iranian allies fully encircle the countryside north of Aleppo and cut
off the main supply route linking the city - Syria's largest before
the war - to Turkey [who says] the aim is to starve the population
into submission.”
Now
obviously that’s ridiculous. The “aim” is to keep the rebels
(some of whom are ISIS fighters) from obtaining guns and TOWs from
Turkey where the government in Ankara is desperate to salvage
whatever’s left of the effort to out Assad
In
any event, the fighting looks set to create a new wave of refugees
bound first for Turkey and ultimately for a beleaguered Western
Europe.
“Video
footage showed thousands of people, mostly women, children and the
elderly, massing at the Bab al-Salam border crossing,”
Reuters continues. “Men carried luggage on top of their heads, and
the elderly and those unable to walk were brought in wheelchairs.”
Here
are the visuals:
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