Aid workers say is one of the largest refugee flows of the entire civil war is leaving Aleppo.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians have fled rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo in recent weeks under heavy aerial bombardment by the Syrian government, emptying whole neighborhoods and creating what aid workers say is one of the largest refugee flows of the entire civil war.

The United Nations human rights agency warned last week of what it called “a pattern” of government attacks that violate the laws of war, but the strategy appears to be working for Mr. Assad, draining the power of rebels near Damascus and allowing his forces to advance near Aleppo.

Driving much of the exodus is the government’s heavy use of so-called barrel bombs, large containers filled with explosives and metal shards that explode on impact, maiming and killing people within a large radius, collapsing buildings and often leaving bodies buried in the rubble.

Emile Hokayem, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that displacing civilians allows Mr. Assad to put an enormous burden on rebels, neighboring countries and aid organizations. Destroying opposition neighborhoods also ensures that they will not pose a threat in the future. “Assad seeks to take back important territory but not population,” Mr. Hokayem said. “He doesn’t need to maintain housing in place because the objective is not to allow residents back. It is a kind of cleansing going on.”



http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/world/middleeast/bombings-in-syria-force-wave-of-civilians-to-flee.html?hp