Rebel Offensive in Syria Challenges Government Siege of Aleppo

[robert99]

Syria conflict: US accuses Russia of 'barbarism' in Aleppo - BBC News
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/w...w-an-aid-convoy-in-syria-was-blown-apart.html
US accuses Russia of 'barbarism' in Aleppo
The US ambassador to the UN has accused Russia of "barbarism" over the bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Samantha Power said Russia had told the council outright lies about its conduct in Syria.

She said Russia and the Syrian regime were "laying waste to what is left of an iconic Middle Eastern city.

The UN meeting, requested by the US, UK, and France, follows an intensification of the bombing campaign over Aleppo.

UN special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said at least 213 civilians had been killed since the offensive began, many of them women and children. He said the conflict had reached "new heights of horror".

Several representatives at the meeting suggested Russia may have committed a war crime over the bombing of a humanitarian convoy near Aleppo on Monday.

Russia has denied carrying out the attack, which destroyed 18 of 31 aid trucks. It has said that rebel shelling or a US drone were responsible.

PressTV-Return of peace to Syria impossible: Russia
Russia says the return of peace to war-torn Syria is almost “impossible,” more than a week after US warplanes carried out several airstrikes against Syrian government forces, killing dozens.

“There are hundreds of militant groups wielding across Syria. The country's territory is bombed by anyone who feels like doing it. Syria's return to peace has become almost an impossible task,” said Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin in an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council in New York on Sunday.

Meanwhile, China's UN Ambassador Liu called for the revival of the truce and facilitation of humanitarian aid to Aleppo, stressing that anti-terror efforts were vital to resolve the years-long conflict in Syria.

 

[robert99]

"It looks like judgement day"
Aleppo: Bodies litter floor at makeshift hospital
Hospitals are struggling to cope in Syria's Aleppo as government and Russian fighter jets continued to pound the city's rebel-held east, killing more than 200 people in under a week.

Al Jazeera's Amr al-Halabi, reporting from a makeshift hospital in the city, described a bleak situation as the hospital overflowed with dozens of dead and wounded people.

"Dead people are on the floor of this makeshift hospital," Halabi said. "The situation here is desperate."

Bodies littered the ground inside and outside the facility, as volunteers and relatives carried severly wounded people inside, looking for somehere to put them down on a floor already full with air raid victims.

Russia overplays its hand in Syria
But when Russia exploited the US concessions to act even more aggressively in Syria, Kerry's threat of resorting to "plan B" failed utterly to deter them from acting with impunity.
Why? Well, because the administration had no "plan B", and Kerry had to play with the cards Obama dealt him.

 

[robert99]

Syria army takes rebel-held Aleppo district: military source
Syrian government troops on Tuesday took control of a central rebel-held district in Aleppo city, where the army is pressing an operation to retake opposition territory, a military source said.

"The army retook control of all of the Farafira district northwest of the Aleppo citadel after neutralising many terrorists. Units are now demining the area," the source told AFP.

Massiv markoffensiv i Aleppo - DN.SE
Syrian army, insurgents in fierce clashes in southwest Aleppo
The Syrian army and its allies fought intense clashes with insurgents in the opposition-held 1070 Apartments district of southwestern Aleppo on Tuesday, senior combatant sources on both sides said.

The 1070 Apartments are located next to Ramousah, the southern gateway into Aleppo. The area's capture would allow the government to ease its own access into the city while consolidating a siege on rebel-held districts.

 

[robert99]

Syria conflict: Aleppo evacuation corridors needed, WHO says - BBC News
Both the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been calling for humanitarian corridors into Aleppo for several weeks, but so far those calls have been ignored, reports the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.

On the ground in Aleppo on Tuesday, government forces were reportedly making advances in the centre of the city, attacking rebel-held districts on four fronts and also mobilising armoured vehicles and tanks.

Military sources and rebels say pro-government forces appear to be gearing up for a possible ground assault after several days of heavy airstrikes against rebel-held areas.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that clashes are taking place in central Aleppo.

A military official earlier told The Associated Press news agency that the offensive will not halt until insurgents are "wiped out".

A senior rebel official told Reuters news agency that fighters had so far been able to repel the assaults around the Palestinian refugee camp at Handarat, to the north, the nearby Kindi hospital area, the central Rashidin district, and the 1070 Apartment Project area in the south-west.
(This aint looking good - full scale push to re-take eastern Aleppo. Lot of human misery coming up)

 

[robert99]

PressTV-Syrian govt. forces retake Aleppo district
Syrian government troops have managed to liberate a central neighborhood in the divided city of Aleppo in their latest push against foreign-backed militants who are wreaking havoc in the war-stricken country.

Syrian state TV reported on Tuesday the recapture by government forces of Farafra neighborhood, situated in the old quarter of Aleppo near the city’s famous citadel.

An unnamed military source also confirmed the advance, saying, "The army retook control of all of the Farafra district … after neutralizing many terrorists. Units are now demining the area.”

The Farafra liberation "comes as a continuation of the military operation … that includes an aerial component.

see also Syrian troops launch major ground assault for Aleppo

 

[robert99]

US gives Russia ultimatum to halt Aleppo attacks | News | DW.COM | 28.09.2016
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday threatened to end Washington's engagement with Russia in Syria following a brutal regime offensive against rebels in Aleppo.

"He informed the foreign minister that the United States is making preparations to suspend US-Russia bilateral engagement on Syria … unless Russia takes immediate steps to end the assault on Aleppo and restore the cessation of hostilities," said US State Department spokesman John Kirby.

Kerry "made clear the United States and its partners hold Russia responsible for this situation, including the use of incendiary and bunker buster bombs in an urban environment, a drastic escalation that puts civilians at risk," Kirby added.
(Yeah, that'll stop 'em )
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday described the onslaught of rebel-held Aleppo as worse than a "slaughterhouse."

"Those using ever more destructive weapons know exactly what they are doing - they know they are committing war crimes," he said. "Deliberate attacks on hospitals are war crimes. Denying people access to essential health care violates international humanitarian law."

Earlier Wednesday, airstrikes and shelling destroyed two out of the eight remaining hospitals in rebel-held Aleppo.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...rgest-hospitals-in-rebel-held-Aleppo-NGO.html
Warplanes knock out Aleppo hospital
Washington says the offensive shows Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin have abandoned negotiations in order to seek battlefield victory, turning their backs on an earlier international consensus that no side could win by force.
Assad's Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah allies have said in recent days the war will be won in combat.
But the rebels remain a potent military force even as they have lost control of urban areas. The collapse of peace efforts ends a proposed scheme to separate Western-backed fighters from hardened jihadists.
It has also raised the question of whether the rebels' foreign backers, states including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States, will increase military backing to rebels who have long said weapons they provide are inadequate.
The rebels' main demand has long been for the provision of anti-aircraft missiles, but Washington has resisted this, fearing they could end up in the hands of jihadists.

 

[robert99]

PressTV-Syria: Many terrorists killed in new operations
The Syrian military says it has inflicted heavy losses on foreign-backed terrorists in a series of operations across the country.

Backed by helicopter gunships, government troops attacked militant positions in the hilltop village of Tal Sawwan in the western province of Homs on Wednesday in a bid to retake the strategic al-Sha'er Mountains.

Syrian troops also destroyed a training camp for the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant group, the al-Qaeda branch in Syria formerly known as al-Nusra Front, northwest of Kisin village in Dara'a province.

Earlier, terrorist positions in the towns of Talbiseh, al-Rastan, Um Sharshouh and al-Ghantoo in Dara'a came under government attacks, in which an unknown number of terrorists were killed and their weapons destroyed.

Elsewhere in the al-Sad and al-Bajabjeh districts of Dara'a al-Balad region, Syrian forces killed several terrorists affiliated with the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group.

Syrian troops also launched an offensive in the Da'el town, located approximately 14 kilometers north of Dara’a, killing a number of terrorists and destroying their vehicles.

Moreover, militant positions in the villages of Khan Tuman, Maarata, Kafr Hamrah, Haritan and Babis in the northwestern province of Aleppo were targeted by Syrian jets, leaving scores of terrorists dead.

Army units also thwarted separate attacks by Jaish al-Fatah, Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham terrorists on Karah and al-Zaghba villages in the Hama province, killing more than 70 extremists.
(Where have all these troops come from? Relocated from where the Turks are now? Or more Iranian/Hezbollah fighters?

 

[robert99]

Opinion: Aleppo a disgrace to the international community | Opinion | DW.COM | 28.09.2016
The conflict has become more complex and difficult. The extremists on the rebel side have gained more power. They too do not care about human rights. Yet in many areas, they are the main military force that repels the regime's attacks on civilians. The fatal consequence is that people in Aleppo and elsewhere inevitably have the impression that they are better off in the hands of al Qaeda-affiliated forces like Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the former Al-Nusra Front, than the United Nations or superpower USA.

 

[robert99]

Syria war: Russia rejects US calls to halt bombing eastern Aleppo - BBC News
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the Russian air force would continue its support of the Syrian armed forces.
The Russian foreign ministry said a US refusal to co-operate would be a gift to "terrorists".

Meanwhile Turkey has said it will work with Russia on putting in place another ceasefire after the previous agreement collapsed.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara "we are more than ready" but emphasised that nations have to try harder to find a political resolution in order for an agreement to be effective.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...her-response-to-Russia-over-Syria-crisis.html
Obama administration officials have begun considering tougher responses to the Russian-backed Syrian government assault on Aleppo, including military options, as rising tensions with Moscow diminish hopes for diplomatic solutions from the Middle East to Ukraine and cyberspace, US officials said on Wednesday.
The US officials said the failure of diplomacy in Syria has left the Obama administration no choice but to consider alternatives, most of which involve some use of force and have been examined before but held in abeyance.
(Will Obama start shootimg down Russian/Syrian planes or bombing Assad's troops? Escalation with civilians the losers)

 

[robert99]

Syria's war: US-Russia talks 'on verge of ending'
On Wednesday, at least six civilians were killed when air strikes hit two hospitals in rebel-controlled parts of Aleppo.

The M10 and M2 hospitals were hit before dawn, forcing both to shut temporarily, and leaving just two of east Aleppo's eight hospitals with surgical facilities.

Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays asked Bashar Jaafari, Syria's UN ambassador, if his country had bombed the two hospitals.

Jaafari walked away laughing, without giving an answer.

"It's not clear why he was laughing considering his country is being accused of war crimes in Aleppo," said our correspondent.

 

[robert99]

France pushes UN draft resolution on Aleppo ceasefire
France on Friday discussed a UN draft resolution on imposing a ceasefire in Syria's battleground city of Aleppo with Russia, the United States and the two other permanent Security Council members, diplomats said.

The draft text calls for a cessation of hostilities in Aleppo, where the Syrian army has launched an offensive to retake the rebel-held east of the city.

The proposed resolution would also provide for aid deliveries to besieged eastern Aleppo and the grounding of all Syrian and Russian planes in that area.

A ceasefire monitoring mechanism would be set up with experts from the 20-nation International Syrian Support Group (ISSG) taking part, said a diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Russia did not show any immediate opposition," said the diplomat.

 

[robert99]

Syria conflict: Aleppo hospital 'hit by barrel bombs' - BBC News
An air raid on the rebel-held eastern half of the Syrian city of Aleppo has hit the area's largest hospital for the second time in a matter of days, a medical charity says.

The Syrian American Medical Society, which supports the hospital, said it had been struck by barrel bombs.

The same facility was hit in a similar attack on Wednesday.

There are also reports of Russian-backed Syrian government forces hitting Aleppo's historic Old City.

And clashes between government troops and rebels on the ground are said to be occurring in several Aleppo neighbourhoods.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...argest-hospital-in-rebel-held-Aleppo-NGO.html
At least two barrel bombs hit the largest hospital in the rebel-held side of Syria’s Aleppo city on Saturday, the medical organisation that supports it said.

The facility, known as M10, had already been hit by heavy bombardment on Wednesday along with the second-largest hospital in the area in what UN chief Ban Ki-moon denounced as “war crimes.”

“Two barrel bombs hit the M10 hospital and there were reports of a cluster bomb as well,” Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said of Saturday’s attack.

 

[robert99]

PressTV-Syria troops advance further in Aleppo
Syrian government forces, backed by Russian aerial cover, have advanced further in the northwestern city of Aleppo, tightening the noose around militants.

Syrian army troops managed on Sunday to make fresh gains in the northern parts of the city and reached the outskirts of the militant-held district of Heluk after Russian warplanes pounded the militant positions overnight.

If the government troops manage to recapture Heluk and two other districts of Bustan al-Basha and Sakhur, which are militant-controlled districts in the city’s north, there will remain a small militant-held section located in the city’s southeast.

Army soldiers have already managed to fully clear Handarat refugee camp of militants and recapture nearby Kindi Hospital, which is located a few kilometers north of the city. By recapturing Handarat, Syrian troops pushed terrorists further away from Castello Road, a main artery leading to the militant-held parts of the city.
(Seems it's just a matter of time before it's all over)

 

[robert99]

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...ses-Aleppo-advance-tells-rebels-to-leave.html
Syrian government and allied forces advanced north of Aleppo, pressing their week-old offensive to take the insurgent-held, eastern part of the city after dozens of overnight air strikes.

The Syrian army told rebels to leave the area, offering safe passage and aid supplies.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian military said the army and its allies had advanced south from the Handarat refugee camp north of Aleppo city, which they took earlier this week, taking the Kindi hospital and parts of the Shuqaif industrial area.

Air strikes and shelling continued on Sunday, the Observatory said.

Zakaria Malahifji, of the Aleppo-based rebel group Fastaqim, told Reuters there were clashes in this area on Sunday.

The Observatory added that there was fierce fighting between rebels and government forces all along the front line which cuts the city in two.

The Syrian army said on Sunday that rebel fighters should vacate east Aleppo and it would guarantee them safe passage and necessary aid.

“The army high command calls all armed fighters in the eastern neighborhood of Aleppo to leave these neighborhoods and let civilian residents live their normal lives,” the statement carried by state news agency SANA said.

Syrian military calls on Aleppo rebels to surrender, promises safe passage | News | DW.COM | 02.10.2016
On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry called his counterpart in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov, to discuss the worsening situation in the besieged city. They "examined the situation in Syria, including the possibility of normalizing the situation around Aleppo," according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

 

[robert99]

What Syria reveals about the new world order - BBC News
No-one I have spoken to can explain to me why Russia will not get its way in Syria and, by extension, how President Assad could be removed from power, unless President Putin wills it.

This may not be a desirable state of affairs but, unless I am missing something profound, it is the state of the world in which we live.

 

[robert99]

Did not see this coming!
Former Hezbollah leader slams group as US-Russia ‘pawns’
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...h-leader-slams-group-as-US-Russia-pawns-.html
Subhi al-Tufayli, the former leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah has slammed the group for its aggression in Syria.

Hezbollah joined the war in 2012 in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has been a key player in keeping the president in power.

In a video that surfaced on the internet early this week, Tufayli called on Hezbollah fighters in Aleppo to stop their involvement in the war.

“If there is anyone honorable among you [Hezbollah], then repent and reconsider,” he said, “Do not be pawns serving the US and Russia.”

Tufayli, who was the first leader of Hezbollah from 1989 until 1991, accused the US and Russia of conspiring against the children of Muslims.

“Whoever allies with these people, American or Russian, I swear to God, he is an enemy,” Tufayli said.
(True though, used by Iran to prop up Assad. The Russians are cleverly using Hezbollah as canon fodder. Hezbollah will become a target of every Sunni militant group in the Middle East if the bloodshed continues. Would not like to be Mr al-Tufayli's driver, as cars in Lebanon are like Samsung's phones and washing machines - liable to explode.)

 

[robert99]

Staffan de Mistura, UN's Syria envoy, offers to personally escort rebel fighters out of Aleppo
UN envoy warns east Aleppo faces 'total destruction'
De Mistura noted the presence of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham fighters in the city has been used as a justification by Moscow and Damascus for the continued assault.

Formerly known as al-Nusra Front, the group recently changed its name following a break with al-Qaeda, but many still see the two groups as tied.

"Can you please look at my eyes," de Mistura said in a direct appeal to the group's leaders, before pleading with them to quit Aleppo.

"If you decide to leave with dignity ... I am personally ready to physically accompany you," the UN envoy pledged.
...
President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday that rebels holed up in Aleppo can leave with their families if they lay down their arms, vowing to press on with the assault on Syria's largest city and recapture full control of the country.

However, rebels said they had no plan to evacuate Aleppo, the last major urban area they control, and denounced the amnesty offer as a deception.

"It's impossible for the rebel groups to leave Aleppo because this would be a trick by the regime," Zakaria Malahifji, a Turkey-based official for the Fastaqim group which is present in Aleppo, told Reuters.

The government is demanding that civilians leave the area, "but the only option it has given them is to leave to the western, government-controlled side of Aleppo, and people are afraid".

The 900 or so Fateh al-Sham fighters are among the estimated 8,000 rebel fighters left in east Aleppo.

 

[robert99]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/world/middleeast/aleppo-syria.html
A who's who in the Syrian conflict - it's a long list.

 

[robert99]

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...o-vote-on-Aleppo-truce-face-Russian-veto.html
The UN Security Council will vote on two rival resolutions on Syria on Saturday, one drafted by France calling for an end to air raids on Aleppo and a second by Russia that makes no mention of a halt to the bombings.

Russia is expected to use its veto to block the French-drafted measure backed by the United States and Britain that also provides for a halt to all military flights over Aleppo.

The council will then move to a second vote on the Russian-drafted text that calls for a ceasefire but makes no specific mention of stopping the aerial bombardment of Aleppo.

The decision to move to a vote followed days of shuttle diplomacy by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who traveled to Moscow and Washington to secure agreement on the draft resolution.

Ayrault, who will attend the council meeting on Saturday, said the vote will be a “moment of truth for all the members of the Security Council.”

 

[robert99]

PressTV-Syria terrorist group joins Jabhat Fateh al-Sham
A major terrorist group in Syria, with links to the so-called moderate militants in the Arab country, has officially joined the ranks of the notorious Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which is linked to al-Qaeda.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham's leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani claimed on Sunday that Jund al-Aqsa had joined the ranks of the group in a bid to stop infighting in northern Syria over the past days which has seen a bloody battle between Jund al-Aqsa and the Ahrar al-Sham group.

The two terror groups of Jund and Ahrar began fighting each other after the latter accused Jund militants of ambushing its leaders.

Golani and commander of Jund al-Aqsa, Abu Diab al-Sarmini, signed a handwritten declaration on Sunday, showing that the merger officially took place and Jund militants could now enjoy the protection of Syria’s main al-Qaeda affiliate.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...-allegiance-to-ex-Qaeda-branch-in-Syria-.html
Jund al-Aqsa’s statement - circulated by rebel officials from other groups and carrying the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham stamp - did not say how pledging allegiance to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham would mend its relationship with Ahrar al-Sham.

The move appears to formalize Jund al-Aqsa’s ties with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly the Nusra Front, which changed its name in July and said it was breaking from the al Qaeda network founded by Osama bin Laden.

Jund al-Aqsa, which is on the US State Department’s list of terrorist groups, has been heavily involved in fighting in the west and north of Syria including around Aleppo in the most recent months of the five-year-old civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
(As Opinion: Aleppo a disgrace to the international community | Opinion | DW.COM | 28.09.2016 stated here, Assad opposition groups don't have much choice other then to join together.)