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Saturday, 6 February 2016

Syrians escaped military operations in the north to gather at Turkish border

The United Nations estimates 20,000 people displaced by military operations in northern Syria have gathered at the Bab al Salam border crossing with Turkey.

The deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general said another 5,000 to 10,000 people have fled to Azaz city and a further 10,000 to Afrin.

Farhan Haq said they were mainly from sub-districts of Aleppo, which has been the target of a government offensive and Russian airstrikes against rebel forces that started on Monday.

Turkey's prime minister said around 15,000 residents of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, have reached Turkey's borders, adding that tens of thousands more could be on the way.

In a televised speech on Friday, Ahmet Davutoglu promised Turkey would not leave the displaced "without food or shelter" but did not say whether the country intended to let them in.

The border gate between Syria and Turkey was closed on Friday and no refugees were admitted, prompting human rights group Amnesty International to call on Turkey to allow those massed at the border to cross over.

Amnesty's Global Issues Director Sherif Elsayed-Ali said Turkey "must not close its doors to people in desperate need of safety".

Meanwhile, Syria's state news agency SANA said pro-government troops had taken another community as part of the offensive aimed at encircling Aleppo.

SANA and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops captured the village of Rityan on Friday after shelling and airstrikes involving Russian warplanes.

NATO's secretary-general has warned Russian airstrikes against opposition forces in Syria are "undermining efforts to find a political solution to the conflict."

Jens Stoltenberg added that increased Russian air force activity in Syria was also leading to more violations of Turkish airspace.

"This creates risks, heightened tensions and is of course a challenge for NATO," he said.

There has been further criticism of Russia, Syrian president Bashar Assad and supporters of his regime from US Secretary of State John Kerry.

He said they were failing to comply with a UN resolution passed in December that called for immediate access to all areas of Syria and an end to aerial and artillery bombardments of civilians.

Mr Kerry also accused Moscow using imprecise "free-fall" or "dumb bombs" that have killed large numbers of civilians.

"This has to stop," he said. "Nobody has any question about that. But it's not going to stop just by whining about it.

"It's not going to stop by walking away from the table or not engaging."

Mr Kerry travels to Munich next week for talks with Russia, Iran and other parties involved in the five-year Syrian conflict.

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