Terrorist groups have attacked humanitarian corridors open to withdraw civilians from militant-controlled areas in the Syrian governorates of Idlib and Aleppo, the Syrian government agency SANA reported, citing an official military source.
“Terrorists have attacked humanitarian corridors that are open to withdraw civilians from terrorist-controlled areas. They are trying to keep civilians from leaving to use them as human shields”, – he said.
According to the Syrian Army, the terrorists are using such tactics, knowing that the presence of civilians makes it difficult to retaliate against the positions of the militants from which they are firing.
“Recently, terrorists in the western province of Aleppo have started firing more rockets and mines into densely populated residential areas of the city, killing dozens of civilians, mostly women and children,” the source said.
Since 19 December, the Syrian army has been conducting a military operation in the south-east of Idlib province. On 24 December, the General Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces announced that more than 40 villages had been liberated from terrorists during the operation and called on civilians to leave villages held by the militants, for which three humanitarian corridors had been opened: in the Hubayt area in the south of Idlib, Abu Dhuhur in the east and Al-Khader in the south of Aleppo province. Militants fired on those corridors several times. Another ceasefire entered into force in the Syrian province of Idlib from midnight on 12 January.