Syria: Hundreds Of Thousands Flee As Fighting Rages In Aleppo

FSA rebels capture tank in Aleppo. Photograph via @HamaEcho

Syrian government forces claim to have regained complete control of Damascus and that they are making inroads into rebel held areas in Aleppo as hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians flee the fighting.

These assertions are refuted by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) who remain in control of much of Aleppo with fighting continuing to a lesser extent in Damascus. They have also gained control of the Anadan checkpoint on the Turkish border.

BREAKING: Syria rebels seize Andan checkpoint between #Aleppo and #Turkey – Syrian Activist Abu Abdallah al-Halabi to Radio Sawa

— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) July 30, 2012

This video purports to show the FSA having taken control of Syrian army tanks and armoured vehicles in Anadan

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported fierce clashes in the areas win which the government forces are claiming success, but reported no such change in control

The Salaheddine and al-Sukkari neighbourhoods are being bombarded by regime forces, who also clashed with rebel fighters in the neighbourhoods of al-Iza’a, al-A’thamiya and Salaheddine

The situation for those in Aleppo has become a humanitarian crisis, with both water and electricity cut off by government forces that continue to bombard the city from land and air which has caused more than 200,000 people to flee the fighting over the weekend according to the UN.

Aleppo is on the verge of a terrible humanitarian catastrophe, so many displaced and vulnerable families, with a shortages of basics

— Edward Dark (@edwardedark) July 29, 2012

Any progress within Aleppo for either side will be slow with some describing the situation as Assad’s Stalingrad, with FSA rebels setting up barricades and preparing for days of siege from government forces.

thousands of FSA rebels have taken up positions in several areas of Aleppo city & barricaded themselves ready 4 stand off with regime's army

— Edward Dark (@edwardedark) July 29, 2012

If the government have control of Damascus they are doing little to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of its people with schools in and around the city being turned into make-shift refugee camps that are hugely understocked.

No electricity, no water, no beds. Just cardboard with some sheets and ragged pillows. #Damascus #Syria

— نور (@NMSyria) July 30, 2012

Government forces also continue to use helicopter gunships and heavy artillery on areas of Damascus which implies the fighting is far from over in the city. Guerilla warfare is unlikely to be put down in the space of a week as rebels are able to disappear into the night as government forces move in. The government gains in the city in regions such as Midan are in part due to the FSA retreating from the areas to avoid further civilian bloodshed from heavy government bombardment.

Outside of Aleppo and Damascus the FSA have captured a political security branch in Rabi’ah, Latakia in the Kurdish Mountains with its security files and documents on members of the Syrian population intact.
http://twitter.com/DSyrer/status/229722038166749184

Government forces continue to shell towns and villages in Hama Hamahttps://twitter.com/HamwiyaStrength/status/229713558005493760

Assad forces maintain their assault on Homs which has now been going on for six months with destruction of much of the city.

Homs has been shelled for 6 months, there's nothing left in most of the city, what do you think you will get out of this?

— The 47th (@THE_47th) July 30, 2012

On the international stage, France is seeking a Security Council meeting on Syria with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius describing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as an “executioner”. However, it is unlikely that Russia or China will have changed their positions and will use their vetoes again.

Whilst Western governments may welcome the end of Assad’s regime, the possible explosion rather than implosion from the revolution in Syria may cause wider issues in the Middle East according to Jonathan Eyal from the Royal United Services Institute who warned

“Instead of imploding as other Arab countries did when they were gripped by revolutions, Syria will explode, disgorging its troubles across the entire Middle East, with potentially catastrophic consequences which will need to be managed, since they look unlikely to be avoided”

China has also sent battleships through the Suez canal en route to Syria, possibly to carry out previously agreed war games with Russia and Syria off the Syrian coast.

Whilst not directly interfering in the conflict, but widely believed to to supplying weapons and support to Assad, Iran has warned Sunni regimes in Turkey and Saudi Arabia that their insistence on toppling the Assad regime will destabilise the entire region. The US has also warned rebel fighters that if they are successful they should not disband all of the current regimes institutions and security apparatus as it would cause a power vacuum such as caused much instability in neighbouring Iraq.

ONGOING LIVE COVERAGE:
Al Jazeera | The Guardian | Global Post

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