|
GENEVA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN Special Envoy for Syria offered Thursday to physically accompany 900 al-Nusra fighters out of east Aleppo in a bid to prevent more civilian bloodshed there.
"I'm telling the armed men of al-Nusra that I'm willing to escort them, if they wish to leave eastern Aleppo, so as to protect the civilians," Staffan de Mistura said in an emotional appeal to the radical group in the east of the city.
"Are we talking about 900 people who are the main reason for which there are 275,000 people being attacked? Is this going to be an easy alibi and the reason for the destruction of the city?" he asked.
Once Syria's economic hub, the UN has estimated that out of the 275,000 civilians trapped in eastern parts of the city, 100,000 are children.
De Mistura said that since Sept. 23, 376 people have been killed in eastern Aleppo, one third of them children. A further 1,266 individuals have been wounded by air strikes and barrel bombs.
The official reminded that western Aleppo, which is under Syrian government control, has also been hit by attacks resulting in casualties.
The ongoing violence is particularly devastating since a landmark truce brokered by the United States and Russia last month had offered a modicum of hope to Syria's desperate population.
Since the ceasefire broke down barely a week after coming into effect on Sept. 12, there has been an upsurge in violence in Syria and especially in Aleppo, a city which could be completely destroyed come Christmas if current levels of violence continue unabated.
"No one can deny that we are in emergency mode," De Mistura warned, adding the U.S. and Russia's decision to break off cooperation was "a setback."
"No conflict can end by conflict in itself. We still maintain there is no military victory," he said.
