UN: Terrorists using civilians as human shield in Aleppo

The UN's Commission of Inquiry for Syria (COI) says it has received reports that terrorists in Syria’s Aleppo are preventing civilians from leaving the city and are using them as human shields.

According to Press TV, the COI released a statement on Wednesday, saying it had received “allegations of opposition groups… preventing civilians from leaving as well as opposition fighters embedding themselves within the civilian population, thus heightening the risk to civilians of being killed or injured.”  

The statement noted that the Takfiri Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, and Saudi-backed Ahrar al-Sham terrorists were mostly obstructing civilians' passage from the city.

Syrian state TV reports that the Damascus forces are now in control of 99 percent of Aleppo, with terrorists having surrendered most of their remaining territory. Hundreds of foreign-backed terrorists have laid down arms in Aleppo in the past 24 hours. Almost 6,000 civilians have also left terrorist-held districts of the northwestern Syrian city over the past day. 

Meanwhile, Aleppo University Hospital was overwhelmed with wounded civilians, including large numbers of children, as terrorists' shelling continued in the city’s residential areas.

Three people were killed and at least 45 more were injured after terrorists attacked several neighborhoods in the city.

On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are set to hold a meeting over resolving the crisis in Syria on December 27.

"We are striving to secure a ceasefire throughout the country and for negotiations for a political solution to start," said Cavusoglu.

"In this sense, at the end of the month, on December 27 in Moscow, we will hold a tripartite meeting with Turkey, Russia and Iran," he added.

ME