Geneva : Hundreds of men may have gone missing after fleeing into government-controlled parts of Aleppo, the UN warned today, saying armed groups were reportedly blocking civilians from leaving the shrinking areas under their control.
As Syrian government artillery pummelled the rebel territory in Aleppo, the UN rights office said both sides appeared to be operating in “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”, and that civilians were paying the price. “While it’s very difficult to establish the facts in such a fluid and dangerous situation, we have received very worrying allegations that hundreds of men have gone missing after crossing into government-controlled areas,” spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
He said the men were between the ages of 30 and 50, and their family members said they had lost contact with them after they fled opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo around a week or 10 days ago.
“Given the terrible record of arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances by the Syrian government, we are of course deeply concerned about the fate of these individuals,” Colville said.
