An alliance of rebels, Islamists, and jihadists late Saturday said they had opened a new route into Aleppo’s eastern neighbourhoods, home to some 250,000 people.
Advertisement
The city 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.
A significant threat to government forces in western Aleppo could provide much more incentive to bring the Assad regime to the table and seriously discuss a settlement to the five-year conflict.
Strikes in the city of Aleppo in the bid to degrade and destroy the al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, however, paled in comparison to Sunday nights strikes in the city of Idlib that have produced shocking images of multiple burning buildings struck by incendiary bombs in a bid to root out al-Nusra rebels and recapture the balance in the fight to stabilize Syria.
Saturday marked a breakthrough for the rebel fighters as they were able to push northeast into the district of Romasa and take control of key military facilities.
The offensive triggered a violent retaliation from the rebels, who subsequently unleashed over seven attacks against government posts in southern Aleppo in an effort to end the siege.
An AFP journalist in the eastern districts said one truck of vegetables entered late Saturday to be sold in the markets the following day.
The rebel advance into Ramouseh has now raised questions about the security of supply lines into government-held western Aleppo.
Families in western neighbourhoods have, meanwhile, rushed to stock up on food and water in preparation for a siege.
A man aged 37 who declined to be identified said he had “faith in the army, but I can’t help being scared”.
“Food is already getting more expensive and the coming days risk being very hard”, he added.
The fight for Aleppo is among the fiercest so far in Syria’s chaotic multi-front war, which has killed more than 280,000 people.
A monitoring group backs up the reports, however pro-government media outlets deny the siege has been broken.
An image grab taken from a video released on Saturday by Fateh al-Sham Front, the former Al-Nusra Front, which renamed itself after renouncing its status as Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, shows a still from drone footage of smoke billowing from an artillery school south of Aleppo as Islamist rebels captured two military academies and a third military position.
A rebel advance on Sunday sparked fears Aleppo’s government side could come under siege.
“We announce the start of a new phase to liberate all of Aleppo” after a week of continuous fighting, the group said in a statement. It is not clear whether the rebels would be able to keep their new gains, but the breach causes a dent in the Syrian government’s new confidence and territorial expansion, bolstered by Russian air support.
State news agency SANA said one girl was killed in rebel shelling of government areas near the frontline.
They also seized parts of the main supply road leading to regime-held Aleppo, cutting off critical supplies to the area.
Advertisement
Syria’s conflict first erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests but has since evolved into a fully fledged war largely dominated by militants groups.
