Opposition groups have taken most of a large government military complex southwest of Aleppo city in a major offensive begun on Friday to break a month-long siege and are now attacking further into government held territory.
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Late Sunday, the Army of Conquest pledged to “double the number of fighters” to recapture all of Aleppo city.
A leader in Ahrar al-Sham, Mohammed al-Shami told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that by entering its fourth stage, opposition forces would have completed the plan they had placed ten days ago to control the city of Aleppo. “But this readiness, this seriousness, has to be shown in terms of actions, not only in terms of words”, he said.
Assad’s forces are supported by Russian air power, Iranian militias and fighters from Lebanon’s Hizbollah group who have sent reinforcements to shore up the army.
“Because our fighters are not only facing the Syrian regime but they are also facing the militias, Hezbollah, Iranian militias and Russian Federation”, he said at a news conference in Istanbul.
Rebel forces made a breakthrough at the weekend, relieving the siege on the east of the city, where up to 300,000 residents were at risk of starvation. The loss of Aleppo would be a crushing blow for rebels.
“We are in our trenches, but there are insane air strikes of unprecedented ferociousness”, a rebel commander said.
Activists say intense airstrikes have continued unabated after rebels seized Ramouseh, a district in south-west Aleppo, allowing them to open a corridor into the besieged areas. The group does not comment on military operations.
A key turning point was reached over the weekend when a newly formed coalition of opposition fighters, including some recently affiliated to al Qaeda, managed to break through government lines.
Aleppo has been a battleground since 2012, when it was stormed by the opposition and divided into a regime-controlled western half and an east under rebel dominion.
The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) congratulated opposition groups on making “spectacular gains (which send) a clear message to the Assad regime, Iran and Russian Federation that they will not be able to defeat the Syrian people or dictate the terms of a settlement”.
Assad’s troops imposed a siege last month after seizing high ground overlooking the Castello Road, the only thoroughfare bringing aid to the east of the city from Turkey, which backs the opposition. Overnight, regime forces brought in trucks carrying food and fuel into those districts via a new route, the observatory said.
Syrian warplanes have been bombing the Ramousah area, where the rebels advanced and cut the road on Saturday, leaving no safe passage for civilians, the observatory said.
The rebel victory in Ramouseh, while technically ending the siege, does not mean there will be immediate relief for residents of east Aleppo.
Three vans of vegetables crossed into east Aleppo, Abdurrahman said, but this was a symbolic gesture and the corridor is too risky for civilians or significant supplies to pass.
The United Nations aid chief has called for weekly 48-hour humanitarian pauses in fighting to deliver aid to Aleppo.
“The propaganda and the emotional rhetoric, the unfounded accusations, the information campaign, means that we can not move towards a political settlement in Syria”, Safronkov said.
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The multi-sided civil war in Syria, which has been raging since 2011, has drawn in regional and global powers, caused the world’s worst humanitarian emergency and attracted recruits to Islamist militancy from around the world.
