UN and Turkish officials declare that about 20.000 Syrian refugees fleeing fighting in northern Aleppo province have gathered at a border crossing with Turkey. The deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Farhan Haq told reporters the thousands of people are mainly from the Aleppo sub-districts of Tel Rifaat, Hariyatan and Azaz.
UN and Turkish officials declare that about 20.000 Syrian refugees fleeing fighting in northern Aleppo province have gathered at a border crossing with Turkey. The deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Farhan Haq told reporters the thousands of people are mainly from the Aleppo sub-districts of Tel Rifaat, Hariyatan and Azaz.
According to The Guardian, most of the refugees are believed to be among the poorest residents of northern Syria, who had remained behind throughout a conflict that had emptied out the countryside between Aleppo and the border, and whittled away the rebel-held east of the city itself.
Aid agencies in southern Turkey were struggling to deliver food and shelter to communities that had fled the most stable attack of the five-year war, with some arrivals claiming their houses had been decimated by indiscriminate bombing.
The advance threatens to encircle the city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, landing a major blow to the rebels, says BBC. Earlier, Nato has accused Russia of "undermining" Syrian peace efforts through its strikes, which it says are mainly aimed at opposition groups. However, Russia insists it only targets terrorists.
