Battles rage across Aleppo as Assad regime fights to quell rebels
‘Airstrikes of unprecedented ferociousness’ said to be continuing after collapse of siege on Syria’s second largest city
Members of the Jaish al-Fatah coalition clash with Assad regime soldiers in Ramouseh on Saturday. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Rebels in Syria’s second largest city were on Monday coming under intense aerial bombardment from forces loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, less than two days after they fought through regime lines to break the siege of rebel-held east Aleppo.
Activists say intense airstrikes have continued unabated after rebels seized Ramouseh, a district in south-west Aleppo, allowing them to open a corridor into the besieged areas.
“We are in our trenches but there are insane airstrikes of unprecedented ferociousness,” a commander in the rebel coalition told Reuters. “The regime is using cluster and vacuum bombs.”
Syria’s rebels unite to break Assad’s siege of Aleppo
Over the weekend, rebels in a coalition known as Jaish al-Fatah launched a lightning advance that sealed the conquest of Ramouseh, a key district through which supplies flow to government forces in west Aleppo. The advance followed a rare show of unity among the opposition, which began a campaign a week ago involving thousands of fighters working to break the siege.
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The coalition includes Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, which last month said it was severing ties with al-Qaida’s central command and played a key role in the battle.
Aleppo 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. The east has been left in ruins, pummelled in an unforgiving aerial campaign by the Assad regime.
Assad’s troops imposed a siege last month after seizing high ground overlooking the Castello Road, the only thoroughfare bringing aid to the east of the city from Turkey, which backs the opposition.
The rebel victory in Ramouseh, while technically ending the siege, does not mean there will be immediate relief for residents of east Aleppo. The area remains a war zone under intense bombardment, and it is unlikely the opposition can use it yet to ferry in significant supplies.
The victory also means this vital district for both sides is no longer in government hands, effectively placing residents of west Aleppo under siege. Aid organisations estimate that more than 1.5 million people are under siege in the west, compared to a quarter of a million civilians still in the east.
The Observer view on events in Syria
Only united international action can end the carnage in Syria
Residents and activists in west Aleppo said the prices of basic goods have risen overnight and that there are now shortages of staples such as bread. Humanitarian organisations operating in Syria say the crisis there is likely to be even more devastating, as residents did not expect a siege and therefore did not stockpile any supplies in preparation.
Aid workers who are allowed to operate in government areas in Aleppo only have supplies for those of the population deemed in need, mostly refugees displaced from other areas, so they are likely to have only a month’s supply for just a fraction of those still in the city.
“There are no vegetables or fruits, and no meat or chicken because there is only five hours of electricity a day and the generators aren’t working because there is no diesel fuel or oil,” said one resident of west Aleppo. “The merchants are shit, they are hiding their stock in case [the siege] lasts a long time so they can raise the prices.”
Another resident said she had been unable to find bread after the rebel campaign secured Ramouseh. Their accounts mesh with those of aid workers, who say prices of goods have risen between 25 and 50% in the last couple of days, with limited access to fuel and bread scarcity.
Nor is the situation better in the eastern part of the city, which has endured heavy aerial bombardment by government warplanes. That bombing has meant that, although the siege is technically broken, few supplies have made it through the corridor that remains a fierce war zone.
“The bombing is horrible,” said one doctor based in east Aleppo. “Russia is taking its revenge and they will not allow any road to be open.”
“They failed in Aleppo, and they want to make up for that failure,” he added.
The greatest beneficiaries of the rebel victory may be Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. The powerful jihadi group played a major part in the rebel campaign, the first since it publicly severed ties with al-Qaida’s central command.
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Though few expect the reconstituted group to alter its ideology, it is now seen more as an efficient fighting force that helped to break the siege of Aleppo when the halting international diplomacy of the US and Russia failed.
“This operation was an advertisement for their new name,” said one activist in Idlib, a province entirely under opposition control where the former al-Qaida affiliate has a strong presence. “But the names won’t change the reality.”
He added: “They also are sending a message to the west and to America in particular that their fight is in Syria, and Syria only.”
“The fact that armed groups were those to break the siege and then provide food to eastern Aleppo’s starving communities was an irony not lost on a single opposition Syrian,” said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of The Syrian Jihad, a book chronicling the evolution of the Syrian insurgency, who lamented the failure of diplomatic efforts to end the siege. “It’s really quite extraordinary that even a de facto al-Qaida movement can be perceived as doing a better job at ‘serving’ civilian needs in Syria than the most powerful country in the world.”
“Although some have reservations over its conservatism, Syria’s armed opposition is explicitly unified in viewing al-Nusra’s rebranding as a ‘concession’ to the revolution,” said Lister. “Therefore, there’s unfortunately no doubt that [Jabhat Fateh al-Sham’s] role in breaking the siege of Aleppo – even temporarily – will further entrench its status as a necessary and accepted partner in the fight against the Assad regime.”
Rebels in Syria’s second largest city were on Monday coming under intense aerial bombardment from forces loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, less than two days after they fought through regime lines to break the siege of rebel-held east Aleppo.
Activists say intense airstrikes have continued unabated after rebels seized Ramouseh, a district in south-west Aleppo, allowing them to open a corridor into the besieged areas.
“We are in our trenches but there are insane airstrikes of unprecedented ferociousness,” a commander in the rebel coalition told Reuters. “The regime is using cluster and vacuum bombs.”
Syria’s rebels unite to break Assad’s siege of Aleppo
Over the weekend, rebels in a coalition known as Jaish al-Fatah launched a lightning advance that sealed the conquest of Ramouseh, a key district through which supplies flow to government forces in west Aleppo. The advance followed a rare show of unity among the opposition, which began a campaign a week ago involving thousands of fighters working to break the siege.
Advertisement
The coalition includes Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, which last month said it was severing ties with al-Qaida’s central command and played a key role in the battle.
Aleppo 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. The east has been left in ruins, pummelled in an unforgiving aerial campaign by the Assad regime.
Assad’s troops imposed a siege last month after seizing high ground overlooking the Castello Road, the only thoroughfare bringing aid to the east of the city from Turkey, which backs the opposition.
The rebel victory in Ramouseh, while technically ending the siege, does not mean there will be immediate relief for residents of east Aleppo. The area remains a war zone under intense bombardment, and it is unlikely the opposition can use it yet to ferry in significant supplies.
The victory also means this vital district for both sides is no longer in government hands, effectively placing residents of west Aleppo under siege. Aid organisations estimate that more than 1.5 million people are under siege in the west, compared to a quarter of a million civilians still in the east.
The Observer view on events in Syria
Only united international action can end the carnage in Syria
Residents and activists in west Aleppo said the prices of basic goods have risen overnight and that there are now shortages of staples such as bread. Humanitarian organisations operating in Syria say the crisis there is likely to be even more devastating, as residents did not expect a siege and therefore did not stockpile any supplies in preparation.
Aid workers who are allowed to operate in government areas in Aleppo only have supplies for those of the population deemed in need, mostly refugees displaced from other areas, so they are likely to have only a month’s supply for just a fraction of those still in the city.
“There are no vegetables or fruits, and no meat or chicken because there is only five hours of electricity a day and the generators aren’t working because there is no diesel fuel or oil,” said one resident of west Aleppo. “The merchants are shit, they are hiding their stock in case [the siege] lasts a long time so they can raise the prices.”
Another resident said she had been unable to find bread after the rebel campaign secured Ramouseh. Their accounts mesh with those of aid workers, who say prices of goods have risen between 25 and 50% in the last couple of days, with limited access to fuel and bread scarcity.
Nor is the situation better in the eastern part of the city, which has endured heavy aerial bombardment by government warplanes. That bombing has meant that, although the siege is technically broken, few supplies have made it through the corridor that remains a fierce war zone.
“The bombing is horrible,” said one doctor based in east Aleppo. “Russia is taking its revenge and they will not allow any road to be open.”
“They failed in Aleppo, and they want to make up for that failure,” he added.
The greatest beneficiaries of the rebel victory may be Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. The powerful jihadi group played a major part in the rebel campaign, the first since it publicly severed ties with al-Qaida’s central command.
Advertisement
Though few expect the reconstituted group to alter its ideology, it is now seen more as an efficient fighting force that helped to break the siege of Aleppo when the halting international diplomacy of the US and Russia failed.
“This operation was an advertisement for their new name,” said one activist in Idlib, a province entirely under opposition control where the former al-Qaida affiliate has a strong presence. “But the names won’t change the reality.”
He added: “They also are sending a message to the west and to America in particular that their fight is in Syria, and Syria only.”
“The fact that armed groups were those to break the siege and then provide food to eastern Aleppo’s starving communities was an irony not lost on a single opposition Syrian,” said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of The Syrian Jihad, a book chronicling the evolution of the Syrian insurgency, who lamented the failure of diplomatic efforts to end the siege. “It’s really quite extraordinary that even a de facto al-Qaida movement can be perceived as doing a better job at ‘serving’ civilian needs in Syria than the most powerful country in the world.”
“Although some have reservations over its conservatism, Syria’s armed opposition is explicitly unified in viewing al-Nusra’s rebranding as a ‘concession’ to the revolution,” said Lister. “Therefore, there’s unfortunately no doubt that [Jabhat Fateh al-Sham’s] role in breaking the siege of Aleppo – even temporarily – will further entrench its status as a necessary and accepted partner in the fight against the Assad regime.”
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