Scores of Aleppo women commit suicide to avoid being brutally raped by Assad's troops

AT LEAST 20 women have committed suicide in Aleppo to avoid being raped, a rebel group has revealed amid rapidly deteriorating conditions in the Syrian city.
Abdullah Othman, head of the Consultive Council in the Levant Front, one of Aleppo’s largest rebel groups, said: “This morning 20 women committed suicide in order not to be raped.”
The revelation comes six years into Syria’s bloody civil war, as civilians in Aleppo are bombed by President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian and Iranian forces.
Troops loyal to Assad invaded Aleppo on Monday, seizing nearly half of the city’s rebel-held areas.
But civilians are being killed and subjected to violence and sexual assaults, according to accounts on the ground.
Aid worker Abdullateef Khaled posted a suicide note online, said to be by a nurse in Aleppo in which she explains she is killing herself to avoid being



raped.
In the letter, she writes: “I am one of the woman in Aleppo who will soon be raped in just moments..there are no more weapons or men that can stand between us and the animals who are about to come called the ‘country’s army’.”
She added: "I am committing suicide not due to no reason but because I do not want several members of the Assad Regime to savour raping me while just yesterday they were afraid to say the word 'Aleppo'."
Although many civilians have fled Aleppo, thousands remain and are being subjected to bombings and human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, the international community is hesitating to intervene due to fears of antagonising super power Russia and escalating tensions.
Othman added: "Men, women and children were being cooked alive by barrel bombs dropped right where they stood.
“Women and children – their screams can be heard underneath the rubble.”