Isis advance in Syria: Hospital evacuated and 100,000 feared displaced as militants move towards Azaz

A hospital has been evacuated as Isis advances on a city where more than 100,000 civilians are trapped near the Turkish border in Syria.

Militants have seized several towns and villages from rebels and were battling to reach Azaz on Friday.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said had no choice but to evacuate medics and patients from Al Salamah hospital as the Islamists neared.

It said a basic team would remain to help the ill and wounded but raised concern over more than 100,000 displaced people living in the rebel enclave.

Pablo Marco, an operations manager at the humanitarian organisation, said: “We are terribly concerned about the fate of our hospital, our patients and for the estimated 100,000 people trapped between the Turkish border and active frontlines.

“For some months the frontlines have been around seven kilometres away from the hospital and now they’re only 3km (2 miles) from Al Salamah town.

“There is nowhere for people to flee as the fighting gets closer.”

In a propaganda statement, Isis claimed to have taken control of seven villages from the Free Syrian Army and “apostate” fighters.

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In Kaljibrin, there were reports that militants had publicly executed rebel fighters and their families, including women and children, in a main square.

Isis said it had seized American-made weapons from “US-vetted” groups in the advance, although it was impossible to verify the claim.

In the past three days, an estimated 45,000 civilians have fled towards Azaz but are now trapped in the almost encircled city as the Turkish border remains closed.

The Isis offensive has split rebel-held territory in northern Aleppo Governorate into two, cutting a key road linking Azaz to the town of Marea.

Syrian rebel factions in the area, which includes a strategic border crossing, have also come under fire from pro-government forces and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, who hold territory to the west of Azaz.

The city and the Bab al-Salama crossing have been a lifeline for the opposition since the town fell into rebel hands in 2012 but have being threatened by Russian and government air strikes and enemy advances.

MSF and other aid organisations warned earlier this month that the humanitarian situation for people living in the rebel-held enclave was critical.

Human Rights Watch estimates that at up to 165,000 people are currently trapped in overcrowded settlements and fields surrounding Azaz and near a crossing at the nearby Turkish border.

Gerry Simpson, a senior researcher, said they were being hemmed by Turkey’s closed border - where guards have allegedly shot at and attacked refugees trying to flee - and a “wall of silence” by the rest of the world.

“While the world speaks about fighting Isis, their silence is deafening when it comes to the basic rights of those fleeing Isis,” he added.

"The fact Turkey is generously hosting more than 2.5 million Syrians does not give it a right to shut its border to other endangered Syrians.”

Around 30,000 civilians fled a previous Isis advance east of Azaz in April and one of the camps in the region has since been hit by an air strike that killed at least 20 people.

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Azaz, which is controlled by the FSA and Jabhat al-Nusra, was briefly held by Isis in 2013 and militants made another push for the city last summer.

The latest advance came days after the Syrian Democratic Forces announced an assault against the group’s territories in northern Raqqa province.

In Iraq, the group is battling to hold the city of Fallujah amid an advance by government forces and Iranian and Shia militias.

Jabhat al-Nusra has also claimed recent gains in Deir Khabiyeh, south of Damascus, where government forces and Hezbollah have captured territory from insurgents.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, said he plans for a resumption of peace talks “as soon as feasible” between the Government and opposition but expects that it will “certainly not” come within the next two to three weeks.

Isis and the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra are excluded from negotiations, which were suspended last month between Bashar al-Assad’s government and other rebels.