Fears grow brutal Syrian regime is torturing HUNDREDS of people after scores of men disappear from inside Aleppo’s war-torn eastern districts
HUNDREDS of men have vanished after crossing from rebel-held areas of Aleppo into pro-regime territory, UN officials say.
Males between 30 and 50 were sorted from civilians fleeing for their lives a week to 10 days ago and have since disappeared - sparking fears for their safety.
Following weeks of Russian backed bombing and shelling, Syria's government have taken at least 75% of the eastern parts of the city from rebels.
Blood-thirsty street-to-street battles like those fought in Stalingrad in World War 2 are being fought.
Syrian government forces pressed on with their offensive in Aleppo with ground fighting and heavy air strikes as part of a push to retake all of the city's besieged rebel-held east.
But U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said: "As pro-government forces have advanced from the north into eastern Aleppo, there have been allegations of reprisals against civilians who are perceived to have supported armed opposition groups, as well as reports that men were being separated from women and children.
"We have received very worrying allegations that hundreds of men have gone missing after crossing into government-controlled areas.”
The families of the men, who are mainly between 30 and 50 years old, had not heard from them since they fled a week to 10 days ago, he said, adding that it was not clear whether they were civilians.
Mr Colville said: "Given the terrible record of arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances, we are of course deeply concerned about the fate of these individuals.
"One has to ring some alarm bells.
"It could mean that some have been killed, it could mean they have been arbitrarily detained and taken somewhere, we just don't know."
A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the agency was in talks with the government about gaining access to people fleeing rebel-held eastern Aleppo who were being screened or detained.
Mr Colville said that if rebels were proven to have prevented civilians fleeing to safety, this could amount to a war crime.
"Civilians are caught between warring parties that appear to be operating in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."
He said tens of thousands had fled the shrinking opposition-held areas of the city, but that at least 100,000 civilians were believed to remain.
Russia has been dropping menacing leaflets warning the civilians to leave or be “annihilated’.
Meanwhile, Britain's top spy has warned Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria is fuelling an ‘unprecedented’ threat of a terror attack in the UK.
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