Syria: Fierce Clashes Continue In Aleppo

Fighters in Aleppo destroy government tank. Photograph by Omar Jaabari

Government forces are shelling several neighbourhoods in Syria business capital, Aleppo, as fighting for control of the city continues into its sixth day.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have said that 143 people were killed in Syria on Wednesday, including 75 civilians, 41 soldiers and 27 rebel fighters. These numbers included 19 civilians and three rebels killed in the clashes in Aleppo.

Aleppo’s Salaheddin neighbourhood has seen some of the fiercest fighting since the rebels gained a foothold in the city last week and was bombarded by regime troops overnight, with the Observatory also noting that

“There are clashes in the Muhafaza district and shelling on the Mushhad and Sheikh Badr neighbourhoods, which killed a child and injured seven people”

This video shows the destruction caused by the days of shelling of the Musshad district

The bloodshed has not stopped mass demonstrations across various districts in the city, with protesters in the Furqan, Ashrafiyeh and New Aleppo districts calling for the fall of the regime and the departure of President Bashar al-Assad.
This video shows the scale of the demonstrations in Aleppo

Whilst there were numerous reports of a government armoured column moving towards Aleppo from the Idlib province to quell the uprising with an iron fist, the conflict has not yet seen that change in intensity. However, rebel fighters are poised for such a bombardment and have restocked their ammunition and medical supplies in anticipation.

More video of government warplanes flying over Damascus has appeared, with activist Brown Moses noting that the aircraft being pictured are not in fact MiG fighter jets as we previously reported, but instead Aero L-39 Albatroses – a training a aeroplane. As to why the government are using these planes in this way is still unknown.

Whilst the rebels have lost much of the territory they gained in Damscus last week, battles are still being fought in some districts in the city and notably in the Palestinian Yarmouk camp in the south of the capital according to the Observatory

“There are clashes on Street 30 in the Yarmouk camp between Syrian regime forces and fighters from rebel units. Explosions can be heard”

Columns of black smoke rising from the neighborhoods of Hajar Aswad, Palestine Refugee Camp, and Yarmouk Camp in #Damascus – #Syria

— نور (@NMSyria) July 26, 2012

The continued clashes have led to more defections from the regime as they target the civilian areas in which the rebels fighters reside and causing heavy civilians casualties from heavy bombardment. One notable recent defection is that of Talal Houshan who was appointed by the Assad regime to investigate the Qubair massacre, who has released a video, as reported by Brown Moses, in which he describes the bullet wounds in corpses of women and children were the result of being shot from just half a metre away, as executions. He also describes the testimony of an eye-witness who said they were inflicted by pro-Assad forces.

There is a fear amongst many Syrians and observers that the lack of government control in many areas in Syria could result in Jihadist groups slipping into the country and setting up shop. Groups such as Al-Qaeda do not have the support of the Syrian people or any links with the FSA, but such Muslim bloodshed an oppression are attractions to many such groups

The foreign jihadis arrived in past fortnight. Around 100 from many countries. Villagers in northern #Syria v wary.

— Martin Chulov (@martinchulov) July 26, 2012

In neighbouring Lebanon, Reuters are reporting on how the civil war and its eventual outcome with affect Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah. The group have strong links with both Iran and the Assad regime in Syria, although have been strangely silent over the war. The group supported the Arab Spring and popular revolts that toppled the regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, but backed Assad’s promises of peaceful reform. They have been supported by the Assad regime for decades and could not now support its downfall, but also they risk losing popular support and causing internal strife within Lebanon if they act to help suppress a popular Muslim uprising against an increasingly brutal dictator.

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Sources:
Local Coordination Committees of Syria
Hama English News
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
Yalla Souriya
Enduring America