PHOTO: 1000s of displaced Syrians at the closed Bab al-Salama border crossing on Thursday night

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Syria Audio Analysis: Will Assad & Russia Capture Aleppo?

UPDATE 1445 GMT: Alexey Borodavkin, Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, has said that Syria’s opposition should welcome Moscow’s attacks on its territory in northern Syria.

Borodavkin pushed aside Russia’s attacks on rebels linked to the opposition and on civilians with the excuse that only the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra and extremists are being bombed:

Why did the opposition that left Geneva complain about the offensive in Aleppo, which is actually targeted against Jabhat al-Nusra and other radical extremist groups?

The opposition should be happy that terrorists are defeated. But, on the contrary, they were disappointed and left negotiations.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Alloush, the chief negotiator of the opposition-rebel bloc, said that his delegation is unlikely to return to the Geneva talks because of the “arrogant” bombing campaign of Russia and the regime.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Fleeing the regime-Russian-Hezbollah offensive in northern Aleppo Province, up to 70,000 Syrians are trapped near the Turkish border.

Syria’s latest refugee crisis was spurred earlier this week when the offensive — led by Hezbollah and the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division and supported by intense Russian airstrikes and Iranian-commanded foreign militias — reached the regime enclaves of Nubl and al-Zahraa. Residents of opposition-held villages fled capture, bombardment, or the threat of siege, travelling on foot for up to 50 miles to the Turkish border. There is also growing fear inside the opposition sections of Aleppo city, Syria’s largest, that they will be cut off if the offensive closes the supply route from the north.

However, Turkey — which hosts more than 2 million Syrian refugees — closed border crossings last autumn, citing security threats. Ankara is also under pressure from other countries, notably the US, to seal the frontier to limit movement of fighters.

Thousands of people were photographed last night at the shut Bab al-Salama crossing, near the town of Azaz. They remained in danger from Russian air attacks on the area, and one woman was reportedly killed when she was shot in the face by Turkish forces.

AZAZ REFUGEES 05-02-16

Other people moved west to the mainly-Kurdish town of Afrin.

Criticism of Russia and Regime, But No Sign of Response

The latest crisis of displaced persons came as countries gathered for a conference in London on how to deal with the refugee issue. The delegates pledged $11 billion — $6 billion this year, and another $5 billion by 2020 — but offered no sign of dealing with the immediate issue inside Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Davutoğlu said up to 70,000 people had fled, and Aleppo city was threatened with a “siege of starvation”:

My mind is not now in London but on our border – how to relocate these new people coming from Syria? 300,000 people living in Aleppo are ready to move towards Turkey.

US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Russia and the regime to halt bombing, saying they “clearly signaled the intention to seek a military solution rather than enable a political one”:

We call upon the regime and its supporters to halt their bombardment of opposition-held areas, especially in Aleppo, and to lift their besiegement of civilians in accordance with UN security council resolutions.

In contrast, Iran maintained that the opposition-rebel bloc walked out of the talks because of the regime-Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah military success.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on State TV on Thursday:

After the siege on Nubl and Zahraa [in Aleppo Province] was broken, terrorists who were seeking to gain the upper hand in negotiations saw their equations screwed up and left Geneva Talks III….

The opposition side sabotaged the talks many times and set conditions to pose pressure upon the official delegation of the Syrian government but all their plots were foiled finally.

Abdollahian dismissed the opposition-rebel focus on access to aid for besieged towns, saying they were seeking “the removal of siege over terrorist-conquered areas”.

Aftermath of a Russian airstrike near Azaz on Thursday night:

Video: Field Hospital in Daraa Province Destroyed by Russian Airstrike

The remains of a field hospital in the town of al-Ghariya in Daraa Province after a Russian airstrike:

Russia has damaged or destroyed at least 15 hospital and clinics since its bombing campaign began on September 30.

Regime Seals Sewers & Floods Streets to Battle Rebels in Damascus

Syrian forces have sealed sewers and flooded the drainage system in an attempt to halt rebel use of tunnels in the Jobar section of Damascus.

Abu Wissam a-Dimashqi, an activist in Jobar, told Syria Direct:

They welded them shut with iron and poured cement on top of them. They also pumped water into the drainage pipes last week, which flooded the streets. Recent drops in air pressure caused the water level to rise, making the situation worse. The streets were flooded with rainwater as well as the water from the sewers.

Dimashqi said the rebels are countering by digging new tunnels to smuggle weapons and food supplies into Jobar.

The two sides have fought for control of the district in northeastern Damascus since 2012.

Madaya Again Threatened by Starvation as Aid Runs Out

The local council in Madaya, the town northwest of Damascus where scores have died of starvation amid a 7-month regime siege, is warning that residents are against threatened by lack of food.

The council wrote on Facebook on Friday:

The people in Madaya are eating the grass again. The UN aid packages, have almost been consumed. What is left might barely be enough for 3 or 4 days. People are suffering more and more due to the siege imposed by terrorist Hizbollah militia.

After international attention to the crisis, the Assad regime finally relented and allowed three aid convoys into the town during the week of January 11. However, the food was only estimated to last until the end of January, and no further deliveries have been allowed.

Regime Forces Capture Atman in Daraa Province

The Syrian military has captured the town of Atman in Daraa Province in southern Syria.

After intensive Russian bombardment, the Syrian army and militias moved into the town, 4 km (2.5 miles) north of Daraa city.

Turkey: Russia Trying to Divert from Its War Crimes

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s office has alleged that Russia is trying to cover up its war crimes in Syria by suggesting that Turkey is preparing a military invasion.

A Turkish official said:

The Russians are trying to hide their crimes in Syria. They are simply diverting attention from their attacks on civilians as a country already invading Syria. Turkey has all the rights to take any measures to protect its own security.

A Russian defence ministry spokesman said on Thursday that Moscow had good suspect to suspect Turkey is preparing to send ground forces across the border into northern Syria.

The latest allegations come amid both a regime-Russian-Hezbollah-Iranian offensive in northern Aleppo Province, and advances by Kurdish forces in other areas of northern Syria.

13 Iranian Troops Killed in 24 Hours

Iranian media have confirmed the deaths of another 13 troops, including a Colonel and a 1st Lieutenant, in Syria.

Since Monday, 25 deaths have been reported as Iranians fight alongside the Syrian military, Hezbollah, and foreign militias in an offensive north of Aleppo city. Among the casualties was Brigadier General Mohsen Ghajarian.

See Iran Daily: 12 Iranian Troops, Including General, Killed in Syria in 2 Days

Iranian media have reported on 161 casualties, including nine commanders, since Tehran sent in more troops alongside the start of Russia’s bombing campaign in early October.

(Cross-posted from Iran Daily)

Activists: 136 People Killed on Thursday

The opposition Local Coordination Committees documented 136 deaths across Syria on Thursday.

Among the casualties were 21 children and 15 women.

Most of the deaths were in Aleppo Province, where Russian warplanes are carrying out intensive bombing in support of a regime-Hezbollah-Iranian ground offensive. Of the 98 victims, many died in attacks on opposition-held areas of Aleppo city and the towns of Hayan, Hreitan, and Andan.

UN Members Criticize Organization Over Response to Sieges, Complicity with Assad Regime

Senior UN members and aid workers have supported criticism of the UN for its failure to deal with sieges and provide aid to civilians in Syria.

Four UN members and two aid workers told the Guardian that access to the Assad regime has taken priority over access to areas in need. The UN sources said “significant” parts of the organisation had been angered by the emphasis on Syrian sovereignty, rather than on humanitarian abuses that could constitute war crimes.

The UN members backed reports that officials had watered down a report on sieges in consultation with the Assad regime, with removal of all references to the words “siege” or “besieged”. One official said about the report, presented to delegates at an international donors’ conference in London on Thursday.

This was direct censorship and nothing less. It was done after consultation with Damascus but not with other UN stakeholders.

See Syria Feature: Is the UN’s Aid Agency Guilty of “Complicity” with the Assad Regime?

Amid the starvation to death of scores of people in the town of Madaya, besieged since last July by the Syrian military, 112 Syrian activists wrote the UN’s head of humanitarian operations, Stephen O’Brien, “For many of us in Syria, the UN has turned from a symbol of hope into a symbol of complicity.”

See Syria Letter: 112 Syrian Activists to UN — “You Are Helping Assad with Sieges”

Saudi Arabia: We Are Ready to Put Ground Troops Inside Syria

Saudi Arabia has said that it is prepared to deploy ground troops inside Syria.

Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri said on Thursday that Saudi soldiers would combat the Islamic State if the US-led coalition agreed to the offer:

If there was a consensus from the leadership of the coalition, the kingdom is willing to participate in these efforts because we believe that aerial operations are not the ideal solution and there must be a twin mix of aerial and ground operations.

However, local sources told EA that the Saudis might be signaling other intentions, notably support of rebels who are facing regime-Russian-Hezbollah-Iranian offensives in northwest Syria. They also suggested that Riyadh, along with Turkey, might want to check the advance of the Kurdish militia YPG, the armed branch of the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Ankara believes that the PYD is led by the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK, which has battled Turkish forces for more than three decades.