Sporadic clashes hit the southern edges of Aleppo on Sunday morning, a monitoring group said, hours after rebels said they had broken a three-week government siege of the Syrian city.
Advertisement
Rebel forces on Sunday announced a bid to capture all of Aleppo city, which if successful would mark the biggest opposition victory yet in Syria’s five-year civil war.
In May, President Bashar al Assad likened the fight for Aleppo to the battle of Stalingrad.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced almost half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
A Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter points towards blue sheets spread over streets as a cover from snipers as he walks on the rubble of damaged buildings in Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 7, 2016.
Rebels opened a new supply route to Aleppo for the first time in three weeks Parade …
Rebel fighters and people carry the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham flags as they celebrate the news of the breaking of the siege of rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria.
US-backed “moderate” rebels have cast off all pretence of distancing themselves from jihadi extremists by allying openly with the LCF in a so-called Army of Conquest Alliance.
“Unifying our efforts and ranks is imperative to meet the goals of the Syrian revolution”, Jabhat Fateh al Sham announced, anticipating “a complete merger between all honest groups”.
“Whoever wins (in Aleppo), the war will not end. It is however an important battle, the result of which will set the course of the conflict”, said Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at the University of Edinburgh.
In doing so, the rebels could reverse the situation in Syria’s largest city.
But if the regime wins, Pierret expected a “collapse” of the rebel insurgency in its heartland of Idlib. Only days earlier, residents had been hunkering down for a long siege that could have lead to a humanitarian crisis and crippled the opposition in its most important stronghold.
Exerting external control over the city’s eastern quarters through siege was for the government a major strategic advantage, while denying the government this advantage was an important goal of the insurgents. The relief agency helped thousands of residents displaced in last week’s fighting settle in the government side of the city, spokeswoman Ingy Sedky said.
The rebel offensive moved the battle into dense urban terrain, where airpower is less of an advantage to the regime than in the countryside north of the city.
Syrian forces have repelled attacks of units of the Jaish al-Fatah armed coalition in the south and southwest of Aleppo, some 360 kilometers from Damascus, Al-Watan newspaper reported on Monday.
Advertisement
Masri said seven military vehicles brought in goods on Sunday, but the road into eastern Aleppo is full of mines. She said there were reports that one truck carrying vegetables had entered the besieged area, but said she had not seen it, suspecting the vegetables were quickly sold.
