The Duran — Russia reinforces positions in Syria, Al-Qaeda stops civilians fleeing eastern Aleppo

The inability of the UN to provide aid during the current ceasefire in Aleppo, and of the people of eastern Aleppo to leave via the ‘humanitarian corridors’ provided for them, demonstrates the truth of what The Duran – notably our contributor Afra’a Dagher, who is Syrian and who writes from Syria – has been repeatedly saying: there are no “moderate rebels” in Syria.
The story of the Aleppo ceasefire and of the ‘humanitarian corridors’ can be told quickly enough.

The UN supported the ceasefire and sought to use the ‘humanitarian corridors’ to send aid convoys into eastern Aleppo. The Jihadis in eastern Aleppo fired at the convoys, and the movement of the convoys has stopped. The result is that no aid has got through.

As reported previously, the Russians and the Syrians reached an agreement for 900 Jihadi fighters to leave eastern Aleppo by way of the ‘humanitarian corridors’. However when these fighters attempted to do so, they were fired on by the more militant Jihadis belonging to Jabhat Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, which is in control of eastern Aleppo. The result is that this withdrawal of Jihadi fighters has also failed to take place.

A group of civilians also tried to leave eastern Aleppo through the ‘humanitarian corridors’. They too were prevented from doing so by the Jihadis in eastern Aleppo.…

What the ceasefire has however done is demonstrate not just the utter intransigence of the Jihadis in eastern Aleppo, but that Jabhat Al-Nusra – ie. Al-Qaeda – does indeed run the show there. Staffan de Mistura, the UN official who was recently claiming otherwise, has been proved wrong.

None of this of course is going to change the way the situation in Aleppo is being described in the Western media. There it will continue to be a story of defenceless civilians in a gallant besieged rebel city being brutally bombed by murderous Russians.…

But it is all Putler's fault.

The Duran
Russia reinforces positions in Syria, Al-Qaeda stops civilians fleeing eastern Aleppo
Alexander Mercouris

See also

This is one of the very rare cases where the EU’s big two – Germany and France – have failed to get what they wanted.

Hollande is already toast, but this was particularly damaging for Angela Merkel politically. Even her foreign minister was in opposition.

EU splits: Germany’s Angela Merkel hands Vladimir Putin a diplomatic victory