Damascus, Feb 5: Tens of thousands of Syrians fled their homes on Thursday as regime troops pressed a major Russian-backed offensive around second city Aleppo, as Moscow and Ankara traded barbs over the escalating crisis.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a conference in London where donors pledged more than $10 billion in aid for Syrians, said up to 70,000 people were headed towards his country to escape the fighting.
Both Davutoglu and activists said 300,000 people were isolated in Aleppo after the rebels’ main supply route from Turkey was severed by regime forces backed by Russian warplanes.
“The situation in the north countryside of Aleppo is catastrophic,” said Maamoun al-Khateeb, an activist and journalist from nearby Marea village.
“Civilians are now besieged from three sides and have just one road to the Turkish territories,” he said, explaining that regime forces threatened from the south, ISIS group terrorists from the east and Kurdish fighters from the west.
As the offensive raged, diplomatic tensions were also rising, with Moscow accusing opposition supporter Ankara of preparing to invade Syria, saying it had spotted troops and military equipment on the border.
Hours earlier Davutoglu had accused supporters of President Bashar al-Assad, which include Russia, of “committing the same war crimes” as the regime.
The push by government forces has been backed by Russian bombings, including strikes that killed at least 21 civilians, including three children, on Thursday, according to Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict and more than half the country’s population have been forced from their homes, including more than four million who fled abroad to neighbours Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
Western nations have accused Syria’s regime of torpedoing peace talks this week with its military offensive, and Washington demanded Moscow halt its campaign in support of Assad.
In London for the donors’ conference, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he had warned Moscow to stop targeting the Syrian opposition, in a “robust” phone call with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
