Russian bombs triggering mass Aleppo exodus, Syria conference told

Turkish prime minister says tens of thousands being pushed towards border as world gathers to raise billions for refugees

Syrians make their way to the Esselame border gate, in the Turkish province of Kilis, as they flee airstrikes in and around Aleppo. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images





Patrick Wintour, Martin Chulov and Ian Black-Thursday 4 February 2016

Increasingly intensive Russian airstrikes are pushing tens of thousands of Syrians from the city of Aleppo towards the Turkish border, Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu has said, predicting a fresh exodus even as Europe struggles to respond to the existing refugee crisis.

After a week of the most intensive bombardment of the five-year war, opposition forces in northern Syria say they are losing their grip on Aleppo, with forces loyal to the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, in control of most of the countryside immediately to the north. Davutoğlu said the city was threatened with a “siege of starvation”.

Speaking at a conference in London on Thursday that raised more than $10bn in aid pledges, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, called on the regime and its supporters to halt their bombardment of opposition-held areas, saying they “clearly signalled the intention to seek a military solution rather than enable a political one”.
Amid the criticism, Moscow hit back, accusing Turkey of preparing for a military incursion into Syria. “The Russian defence ministry registers a growing number of signs of hidden preparation of the Turkish armed forces for active actions on the territory of Syria,” said spokesman Igor Konashenkov, sparking a robust denial from Ankara.

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