Syrian opposition loses 3 districts in eastern Aleppo

By Halit Suleyman, Levent Tok and Selen Temizer

ALEPPO, Syria (AA) – Syrian armed opposition groups on Monday lost three districts in eastern Aleppo to regime forces, according to opposition sources.

Opposition fighters withdrew from the districts of Bab Antakya, Bustan al-Qasr and Al-Jalloum after intense attacks by regime forces and their allies, the sources told Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity due to security concerns.

According to Anadolu Agency correspondent, areas held by opposition groups in eastern Aleppo were now reduced from 8.6 square kilometers to only six square kilometers.

The opposition sources accused regime forces and Iran-backed Shia militias of indiscriminately targeting civilians trapped inside the besieged areas in Aleppo.

Civilian casualties cannot be accurately figured out as communication was lost with some areas.

While regime forces, the sources say, allow some families to leave the recently captured areas, they separate other family members and detain males to force them to fight within their ranks.

On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, said hundreds of men remain missing more than a week after crossing into Syrian regime-held areas of Aleppo.

Since November 15, more than 1,071 civilians have been killed in eastern Aleppo in attacks by Syrian regime and Russian warplanes, local sources report.

The fierce bombardments have forced most of the city’s hospitals to halt operations, while most academic activities have been indefinitely suspended.

The recent escalation comes amid attempts by the Russia-backed Assad regime to reestablish control over parts of Aleppo captured four years ago by armed opposition groups.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which had erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.