A month after the reopening of the Abu Adh Dhuhur checkpoint, not a single civilian has managed to use this humanitarian corridor to leave the Idlib de-escalation zone, with militants intimidating and killing those daring to approach the passage, Syrian Army Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah said on Thursday
DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2019) A month after the reopening of the Abu Adh Dhuhur checkpoint, not a single civilian has managed to use this humanitarian corridor to leave the Idlib de-escalation zone, with militants intimidating and killing those daring to approach the passage, Syrian Army Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah said on Thursday.
The Abu Adh Dhuhur checkpoint, which had been shut down in December 2018, was re-opened on September 13 on the initiative of the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation.
"Illegal armed groups prevent the exit of our fellow citizens, not disdaining to use brutal force. They have mined the passage from the province of Idlib and shell it. Recently, five civilians were killed on that other side while trying to approach the checkpoint. For a month, not a single person has passed through Abu Adh Dhuhur. Terrorists are using our fellow citizens as human shields," Abdullah, who is responsible for organizing the humanitarian corridor, said.
Yet, the general says, the checkpoint remains open on the other side and is ready to take in people around the clock.
"I tell our brothers in Idlib: we are waiting for you here in the liberated land of Syria. Buses have been sent here, a medical center is deployed here, doctors and ambulances are on duty. To ensure order, Russian military police are present here. Our sappers are also ready to work - they will search vehicles for explosive items," Abdullah said.
A local tribal elder confirmed that "militants carry out attacks from time to time, and several people were shot dead."
"Their propaganda claims that people do not want to leave these territories and no one is held by force. They claim there is no humanitarian corridor," he said.
Sheikhs of local tribes are, however, constantly in touch with people on both sides and do have evidence that these are militants who prevent civilians from leaving.
"Documents are taken away from those who try to get to this corridor and these people are sent to the 'Sharia court' on charges of betrayal," the tribal leader added.
The Syrian government has regained control over most of the territories that were seized by terrorists in late 2017, however anti-terror operations still continue in a number of areas. Idlib, in particular, still remains a terrorist stronghold.
