Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement reportedly made a decision to send within hours on Sunday 400 more fighters to Syria’s Aleppo area, a battleground where it has suffered heavy losses fighting alongside Syrian government forces against the rebels who united to break Assad’s siege of Aleppo.
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Although the retaking of government-controlled districts has opened corridors for the sending of food convoys in rebel-held areas, the change of hands has reduced food access in west Aleppo, and the rebel coalition lacks sufficient resources to provide for citizens of the retaken areas.
Families in western neighbourhoods meanwhile began to stock up on food and water in preparation for a siege but complained about the rising cost of basic supplies. For those in the opposition who have always been wary of the extremist group, Fatah Al Sham’s leading role in ending the siege – and even making it look easy in terms of speed – has shown that the rebels need them if they want to succeed on the battlefield.
Humanitarian agencies have warned that conditions in isolated rebel-held east Aleppo have become very concerning; as the United Nations warns that collective aid supplies will run out in about two weeks.
Syrian state media, however, denied that the siege had been broken and said the fight was ongoing.
However, government forces appear to be redeploying to avoid the rebels making any further gains.
Fierce fighting – some of the most ferocious in the conflict’s 5-year history – has raged around the southwestern Aleppo, particularly around the strategically crucial Al Ramouseh neighborhood, as the rebels launched a concerted push to break the siege and allow for the resupply of the encircled enclave.
The Observatory said that although the militants outside the city did reach rebel-held neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo, civilians still don’t have a safe route to leave because of intense airstrikes and shelling in the area.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said it was one of the most significant setbacks for government forces since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
The Levant Conquest Front, formerly al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, is a key piece of the rebel coalition fighting for Aleppo. The group announced a split with al-Qaeda that appeared calculated to avoid USA airstrikes and enable the group to form closer alliances with more moderate rebel groups. The group has employed suicide bombers in its assault on regime positions in the Aleppo fighting.
The Aleppo offensive was the stunning culmination of a power play aimed at entrenching the group’s place within the Syrian opposition, increasing the dependence of rebel factions and underlining its dominance in northern Syria. “This could be the last chance for them to side with the people rather than the dictator”, he said.
“People are impressed that in spite of all the airstrikes by the regime and the Russians, they managed to take territory and break the siege”, Masri said. “I don’t think either area – opposition or regime – is entirely cut off at this point”.
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Al-Abdah also accused the Syrian regime and its Russian backers of war crimes after reports that phosphorus bombs were dropped on Idlib city in northern Syria last night.
