Terrorists in Aleppo Receive, Use Aid Packages from Abroad while Civilians Starved

Rasa - The Russian General Staff said the terrorist group in Aleppo received and consumed all the food delivered from abroad leaving civilians to starve.

News ID: 425853

Date: 17 December 2016 - 19:50

RNA - "In the liberated districts of Aleppo, Syrian servicemen have found several depots with food delivered from abroad. This food was consumed only by terrorists and members of their families, while Eastern Aleppo's population was starving," said Sergei Rudskoy, the chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate, RIA Novosti reported.

"It seems that Western states and humanitarian organizations are not hurrying up to deliver aid to Aleppo as those who used to receive it, militants, are no longer there, while civilians don't interest them."

Rudskoy said the western countries repeatedly voiced their concern over the fate of Aleppo residents, while being in Geneva and New York, but they did nothing in practice to help them at the same time.

Moreover, he said that some 108,000 civilians, who had not been let to leave eastern Aleppo by militants, are currently in shelters, while only the Syrian government and Russia are providing them with humanitarian aid.

"We have repeatedly heard calls to immediately organize the delivery of food and essentials to Aleppo residents from the West and international organizations. However, currently not a single state or international organization is providing such aid to the city's population."

Commenting further, Sergei Rudskoy said that claims made by Western politicians that there had been casualties among civilians during the liberation of Aleppo are 'outright lies.'

"A new information campaign is gathering speed. Certain Western politicians are claiming about alleged numerous casualties among civilians in Aleppo. According to these claims, the city's streets are full of dead bodies, and thousands of civilians are still hiding in basements. This information is an outright lie," Lt. Gen. Rudskoy said.

Rudskoy added that the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and officers from the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation had entered the liberated districts as they had been freed, and found no bodies there.

According to Rudskoy, the real-time drone video of the operation was available across the world. More than 7,000 Eastern Aleppo residents have returned to their homes after the liberation of the city, he said.

"Terrorists destroyed the majority of vital facilities in the city and left behind a large number of mines and booby-trapped buildings, which impedes the safe return of local residents."

The evacuation of militants from Aleppo and the end of the Syrian army's operation to liberate the city has created conditions for the peaceful settlement of the conflict, the Russian General Staff said.

A Russian demining squad is already working in Eastern Aleppo, while electricity and water supplies have been resumed in several districts, he said. A total of 3,406 militants of the so-called "moderate opposition" surrendered during the liberation of eastern Aleppo, and over 3,000 of them were pardoned, Rudskoy said.

He said that while the US under different pretextes declined to evacuate al-Nusra Front militants, Russia has done it itself.

"During a year of meeting and negotiations with the Americans, we trying to convince them to separate 'moderate opposition' from terrorists.

However, the US refused to do that under different pretexts. Them Russia proposed to take joint action to evacuate al-Nusra Front from eastern Aleppo. It as well was not supported by the US. Now we did it by ourselves."

He said that the separation of terrorists and militants has been completed. He said that it turned out that some 4,500 fighters in Eastern Aleppo were terrorists and most of them had already been evacuation.

"This is how the separation of 'moderate opposition' from terrorists ended."

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