ICC Note: In the final hours of the battle for Aleppo, vast human rights atrocities are being reported by NGOs on the ground. Charities including Christian Aid has reported that some 50,000 civilians are caught up in the bloodshed of Aleppo as pro-government forces are shooting people at point blank. Aleppo has suffered some of the worst fates of the Syrian Civil War to date. It was once home to a vast number of Christians who have now either fled or perished in the crossfire.

12/14/2016 Syria (Premier News): Charities operating in the besieged city of Aleppo have released a ‘message to the world’ about the horrors of the massacre taking place.

The message comes as the UN revealed that civilians were being shot at point-blank range by pro-government forces in eastern Aleppo.

Charities working in the region, including Christian Aid, have reported that around 50,000 civilians are caught up in the violence.

Máiréad Collins, Advocacy and Programme Officer for Syria at Christian Aid, added: “What we are witnessing in Aleppo right now is horrifying. We are seeing the massacre of innocent men, women and children in their homes and on the streets, while the world watches in a state of paralysis.

“Christian Aid, like thousands of other NGOs and civil society organisations, call again for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access to civilians in besieged areas.”

The charities add that there is no safe access in or out of eastern Aleppo and there is no access to food, water or medical assistance for the people trapped there.

Pro-government forces have reportedly killed 82 civilians “on the spot” as they closed in on the last rebel enclave in Syria’s Aleppo, the UN human rights office said.

That and other reports of mass killings, which could not be independently confirmed, reinforce fears of atrocities in eastern Aleppo in the final hours of the battle for the city – which has been split between rebel and government control since 2012.

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