Hundreds Join Key Battle for Syria's Aleppo
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربيةSyrian regime forces and rebel factions sent hundreds of reinforcements to Aleppo on Monday as opposition fighters announced an all-out offensive to take the country's second city.
The battle for Syria's former economic powerhouse is intensifying after an opposition advance at the weekend broke through a three-week government siege of the city's rebel-held east, dealing a major setback to regime troops.
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.
But forces loyal to President Bashar Assad are putting up a fierce fight and have begun pouring reinforcements into the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said some 2,000 pro-regime fighters from Syria, Iraq, Iran and Lebanon's Huzbullah had arrived in Aleppo since late Sunday.
"Both sides are amassing their fighters in preparation for the great battle of Aleppo," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory.
The Monday edition of al-Watan, a Syrian daily close to the government, reported that the army had received "the necessary military reinforcements to launch the battle to retake the areas from which it withdrew."
Citing a source on the ground, the paper said military warplanes "are carrying out a barrage of air strikes targeting the armed groups."
- 'New phase to liberate Aleppo' -
Aleppo has been roughly divided between government forces in the west and rebel groups in the east since fighting first broke out there in mid-2012.
After years of stalemate, fighting for the city entered a new phase last month when government forces took control of the last supply road into rebel-held areas, leaving some 250,000 people in eastern districts surrounded.
In a desperate bid to break the siege, a coalition of rebels, Islamists and jihadists overran a series of buildings in a military academy on the southwestern edges of Aleppo on Saturday.
They then pushed northeast to link up with rebel groups inside the city.
Emboldened by the victory, the fighters -- largely grouped under the banner of the Army of Conquest -- then set their sights on recapturing all of Aleppo city.
In a statement on Sunday the Army of Conquest announced "the start of a new phase to liberate all of Aleppo," pledging to "double the number of fighters for this next battle."
Abdel Rahman told AFP on Monday that hundreds of opposition fighters had arrived in Aleppo from the surrounding province and neighboring Idlib.
Most were from the Fateh al-Sham Front, the powerful jihadist group previously affiliated with al-Qaida that leads the Army of Conquest. The group changed its name from al-Nusra Front last month after breaking with al-Qaida.
"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.
"If the rebels win, Syria will head towards partition, with a regime arc in the Golan Heights, Damascus, Homs, and the coast," he said.
But if the regime wins, Pierret expected a "collapse" of the rebel insurgency in its heartland of Idlib.
- Aid to regime areas -
Residents of both sides of the city have been living in fear of competing sieges of their neighborhoods in recent weeks.
The rebel advance at the weekend cut off a key regime access route on the city's southern edges, which had been used to bring in supplies for the estimated 1.2 million residents of western districts.
Overnight, regime forces brought in dozens of trucks carrying food and fuel into the western neighborhoods via the northern Castello Road, according to the Observatory.
"This is the new route that the regime forces are securing as a temporary alternative to the route they previously depended on," Abdel Rahman said.
Syrian state television al-Ikhbariyah confirmed that "fuel, food, and vegetables entered Aleppo city."
A military source in Damascus denied that the city's west had been besieged, saying "the situation is under control and the situation is not worrisome."
Seven trucks of fruits and vegetables entered the eastern rebel-held districts on Sunday and were quickly purchased by residents.
More than 280,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
International efforts to resolve the conflict have repeatedly failed though the United Nations is hoping that peace talks can resume later this month.
But hizbollaat goons said that the siege wasn't broken howcome ASSad says that it was?
كنانة علوش تتهم “حزب الله” بالخيانة وتناشد الأسد: “أرجوك ارجوك”
علقت مراسلة قناة سما التابعة للنظام السوري، كنانة علوش على تطورات حلب بتدوينة فيسبوكية وتضمنت:“برسم الإجابة للقيادة العسكرية في حلبلماذا تركت مجموعات حزب الله والقوات المساندة لها من عصائب أهل الحق وأبو فضل العباس جبهة كلية المدفعيةلماذا الأكاديمية العسكرية لم تطلق طلقة واحدة ولا قذيفة على تجمعات الإرهابيينالإرهابيين يتقدمون ويحرقون كل شيء بطريقهملم يعد الكذب ينفع …؟؟سيدي الرئيس بشار الأسد لقد تحاصرنا من وراء القيادة الخائنة في حلبأرجوك بدنا حل … الشعب ينام بالشوارع والحدائقأرجوك ارجوك”.
http://www.lebanese-forces.com/2016/08/08/kinana-allouch/
They are blaming each other for the defeat. The regime supporters on social media are accusing hezbollah of betraying them while the supporters of hezbollah are accusing regime forces of betraying them.
شيّع "حزب الله" في بلدة حداثا الجنوبية أحد مقاتليه والمدعو أحمد علي دبوق الذي قتل خلال اشتباكات مع فصائل الثوار في سوريا، كما قتل مقاتل ثان من ميليشيا حزب الله "مازن أحمد سعيد" الملقب بـ أبو زهراء من بلدة حجولا جبيل.
Nassrallah has a speech planned later on this month. He will go all out with Iran and Russia to try and reverse the rebel advances before this speech. So expect intense battles in Aleppo in the coming few days.
وكالة "فارس" التابعة للحرس الثوري الإيراني أن قرابة 2000 مقاتل من تنظيم "حركة النجباء" العراقية الشيعية قد وصلوا إلى مدينة حلب السورية للمشاركة في القتال ضد المعارضة، التي تستعد لمعركة تحرير كامل المدينة من قوات النظام السوري والميليشيات الإيرانية.
كما ذكرت أن مجموعة من قوات النخبة التابعة لميليشيات حزب الله اللبناني المسماة "قوات الرضوان" وصلت إلى منطقة "الحمدانية"، غرب المدينة لدعم قوات الأسد وبهدف اقتحام منطقة الراموسة.
إلى ذلك، اعترفت الوكالة في تقرير منفصل بخسارة قوات إيران وحلفائها نقاطاً استراتيجية في معارك الراموسة، وزعمت أن الأسطول الأميركي في البحر الأبيض يزود المعارضة بمعلومات عن تحركات القوات السورية والميليشيات الإيرانية وحلفائها.
وبحسب زعم وكالة الحرس الثوري، فإن "ائتلاف جيش الفتح" المعارض، خطط عمليات على 6 مراحل بدعم غربي من أجل فك الحصار عن حلب، وتمكن بالفعل من التقدم في بعض المناطق الاستراتيجية نحو المدينة بعد السيطرة على كلية المدفعية والطيران والتعيينات.
كما أكدت حضور عسكريين من الجيش الإيراني إلى جانب عناصر الحرس الثوري، وقالت إنهم يشاركون في المعارك الدائرة شمال وغرب الراموسة بدعم من الطيران الروسي والسوري.
وفي السياق، أفادت وكالة الأنباء الألمانية نقلا عن مصادرها أن "النظام السوري عين الأحد، اللواء زيد صالح نائب قائد الحرس الجمهوري رئيسا للجنة الأمنية والعسكرية في مدينة حلب بعد إعفاء اللواء أديب محمد من كافة مهامه العسكرية في حلب، حيث كان يشغل منصب رئيس اللجنة الأمنية".
I want to ask the Army commander and Abbas Ibrahim how will the 600 or so 'elite' hezbollah terrorists cross into Syria? Will the General Security stamp their passports and check their belongings?
This country is beyond a joke.... fighting terror huh?!
The children of aleppo's burning tyres defeated assad's explosives barrel bombs and putin's phosphorus and napalm bombs.
Your American general is ignorant or pretending to be. Kobane was a symbol for the Kurds in Syria and that's why ISIS was focusing on occupying it. Kobane is and was part of the proposed Kurdish independent state the Americans are supporting.
Aleppo is a symbol of sunni islam and that's why every shia from iran, iraq, lebanon all the way to afghanistan are interested in breaking it. Every sunni syrian city that has a breather to an adjacent sunni country is targeted.
Read carefully some of the reasons behind the U.S sponsored Turkish coup. Turkish newspapers are reporting the putschists backed by U.S intelligence were holding talks with separatist Kurds in Syria, Iraq and Turkey for a possible Kurdish state. The USA is more than half the problem in the Middle East.
Mystic, you are seriously sick.! I cannot believe a human being can harbor so much ill will and hatred..(
It is sickening that you ignore all the facts and focus on whether food is getting in to the besieged people of Aleppo!
Always nice to here ur coment mystic, especially on wahabist, i use to think that iran is an islamic republic and want to export the islamic revolution.. Well i am probably wrong, given the strenght of ur coment iran/hezbollah/faylak badder/abou fadel al abass and co should be some secular progresist modern civil preeching guys :)
Have a nice day man, keep it up
mystic i want you to listen to this when you have the time. Wake up and smell the coffee.
محادثات مسربة لعناصر حزب الله تكشف سبب هزيمتهم في حلب
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrz4Sj4xtbw
Mastica, Northern, non-mowaten and al...
Are going mad because of their huge losses...they don't want to see...don't want to hear, don't want to stay silent...
They can only insult. After becoming a saudisto-zionisto-takfiristo-daechisto-Boko haramisto, I can only add that I pity idiots and backward people.
Tric Trac
We all were waiting for you and your psycopath caporalian remarks.
We miss you!!!
Cutie;
My modeling agency just called me and told me I have a photo shoot on the Castello Road in Aleppo next week. Cutie; you think it will be open by then? I am a bit concerned and don't want to risk it.
Cutie;
You are like the handsome brother I never had. Mr. Golani assured me the road will be open by next week and in the unlikely event it is not, he said I can do the photo shoot at the Military or Artillery academy with its scenic views overlooking Aleppo.
the hezbollah terrorist on the tape is trying to sound tough. They were the first to run and leave the compound. The syrian army was left behind and many of its soldiers were captured. Liars as usual.
Ya @mystic, norma is having a photo shoot at the air academy and you are still claiming "You did not even take the Academy or anything like that".:))))?!