Russian General Staff Appeals Directly to Militant Leaders to Leave Aleppo

The chief of the Russian General Staff directly urged militant leaders in Aleppo to leave the embattled city. Two humanitarian corridors are open for them.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Chief of Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov issued a direct appeal to militant leaders in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo to leave the city given the United States' inability to influence them.

"In view of our US colleagues' inability to separate the terrorists from the opposition, we appeal directly to all leaders of the armed groups to cease hostilities and withdraw from Aleppo with their weapons," Gerasimov said.

To that end, he said that two corridors are opened with Syrian government troops and military hardware pulled out. One corridor leads to the Syrian-Turkish border to the north, while the other leads to the Idlib province southwest of Aleppo, Gerasimov specified.

On October 20, the Russian "humanitarian pause" was introduced in Aleppo to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians from eastern part of the city via eight designated corridors. During the humanitarian pause, al-Nusra Front terrorist group, currently known as Jabhat Fatah al Sham, prevented civilians from fleeing the city, attacking them.

Aleppo has become the scene of ferocious battles between the Syrian army and the militants holding the city's eastern districts, with many international organizations voicing their concern about the civilian population trapped in the city torn by war.