Future of Syria in the balance as Aleppo is pounded

Monday 30 July 2012

The government of Bashar al Assad declared victory yesterday in a hard-fought battle for Syria's capital, Damascus, and pounded rebels who control parts of its largest city, Aleppo.

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Mr Assad's forces have struggled as never before to maintain their grip on the country over the past two weeks after a major rebel advance into the two largest cities and the July 8 explosion that killed four top security officials.

Government forces have succeeded in reimposing their grip on the capital after a punishing battle, but rebels are still in control of sections of Aleppo, clashing with reinforced army troops for several days."Today I tell you, Syria is stronger. In less than a week they were defeated [in Damascus] and the battle failed," Foreign Minister Walid Moualem said on a visit to Iran, Mr Assad's main ally in a region where other neighbours have forsaken him. "So they moved on to Aleppo and I assure you, their plots will fail."Rebel fighters, patrolling opposition districts in flat-bed trucks flying green-white-and-black independence flags, said they were holding off Mr Assad's forces in the south-western Aleppo district of Salaheddine, where clashes have gone on for days.Opposition activists also reported fighting in other rebel-held districts of Aleppo, in what could herald the start of a decisive phase in the battle for Syria's commercial hub, after the army sent tank columns and troop reinforcements last week.Helicopter gunships hovered over the city shortly after dawn and the thud of artillery boomed across neighbourhoods. Syrian state television said soldiers were repelling "terrorists" in Salaheddine and had captured several of their leaders.Some rebel-held areas were empty of residents. Fighters were basing themselves in houses –some clearly abandoned in a hurry, with food still in the fridges. A burned-out tank lay in the street, while nearby another one had been captured intact, covered in tarpaulin and left in a car park, perhaps for the rebels themselves to use against any ground assault.In a largely empty street, flanked by closed shops and run-down buildings, women clad in long black abaya cloaks walked with children next to walls daubed with rebel graffiti – "Freedom", "Free Syrian Army" and "Down with Bashar".Rubbish lay uncollected and in one street families were packing vans full of mattresses in apparent preparation to flee.The leader of Syria's main political opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), called for foreign allies to provide heavy weapons to fight Mr Assad's "killing machine"."The rebels are fighting with primitive weapons. We want weapons that we can stop tanks and planes with," SNC chief Abdelbasset Seida said in Abu Dhabi. He urged foreign allies to circumvent the divided UN Security Council and intervene to help topple Mr Assad.The British-based Observatory, which compiles reports from anti-government activists, said 26 people were killed in Aleppo on Saturday and 190 in total across Syria.

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Future of Syria in the balance as Aleppo is pounded

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