Highlights
As Government of Syria (GoS) forces advance north of Aleppo city, and airstrikes pummel its northern districts, thousands are fleeing. Large crowds have gathered at the Bab al Salam border crossing seeking safety inTurkey.
Supply routes and humanitarian access from the north to eastern Aleppo city and surrounding area are cut off.
Two hospitals, Anadan town Charitable Hospital and Tall Rifaat Pediatric Hospital, have been hit by airstrikes and put out of operation, leaving more than 50,000 without essential health services.
Humanitarian organizations are responding to the needs of those displaced, but ongoing military conflict is making access to populations in need increasingly difficult. The map illustrates the current position and dynamic of current military clashes between GoS and allied forces against Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs) north of Aleppo, as well as IDP flight routes as of 04 February 2016.
Humanitarian Access Overview
Government of Syria and allied forces have launched a major military offensive against NSAG-held positions in the northern Aleppo countryside. A surprise offensive, started days ago from the eastern flank of Aleppo City, has linked GoS held territories to the NSAG-surrounded villages of Nubol and Zahra, resulting in the severing of main supply routes to Aleppo city and surrounding areas from the Bab al Salam border crossing point.
According to sources in the area, while troops advanced on the ground, GoS and allied forces’ intensified airstrikes over key territory north of the city, thousands of households were displaced from Tel Rifaat, Hariyatan, Nubol, and Azaz sub-districts.
Humanitarian partners report that most of those recently displaced have moved towards Tel Rifaat, Kafer Naya, Afrin, Azaz and the Bab al Salam border area. GoS and allied forces’ airstrikes have reportedly also struck an NGO supported hospital and a medical clinic along the Azaz – Aleppo road.
While Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam border crossings remain officially open, NGOs and UN agencies have suspended deliveries of aid and movements of staff from Turkey hrough Bab al-Salam border crossing as of 04 February. They report that the security situation is extremely dangerous between Bab al-Salam border crossing and Aleppo City.