Syrian rebels open major counter offensive amid siege of Aleppo

Syrian rebels open major counteroffensive amid siege of Aleppo

By Hugh Naylor

Smoke rises from shelling on the road to Aleppo international airport in Syria on Oct. 28, 2016.(Ammar Abdullah/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Syrian rebels launched intense artillery barrages and suicide attacks as part of a possible last-ditch offensive announced Friday seeking to break the government’s siege of opposition-controlled districts of Aleppo.

The assault appears to be a desperate bid to hang onto eastern Aleppo, a key northern city that has become the most important battleground in Syria’s civil war as pro-government forces attempt to crush one of the last main opposition stronghold.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and allied forces, aided by Russia, have faced international outrage for the attacks on Aleppo after a cease-fire plan collapsed earlier this month.

A bombardment and blockade has deprived more than 200,000 people in rebel areas there of food and medicine, and threatens to deal the broader rebellion in the country a significant blow.
Islamist rebels, including fighters linked to al-Qaeda, have played a key role in the fight over Aleppo. But their presence has introduced political complications. Syria and Russia claim they are seeking to fight “terrorists,” and the West and its partners have been unable to draw clear distinctions between the militias they back and the Islamist forces.

A video released Friday by the Faylak al-Sham rebel outfit described a major battle against forces allied with al-Assad, including Shiite militiamen from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq.

“Bad news for Bashar and his gangs! Our fighters love to die in the same way Bashar loves to live,” an unnamed Faylak al-Sham fighter says in the video, referring to the Syrian leader. The pronouncement is made to a background of Quranic versus.
Another group, al-Qaeda linked Fatah al-Sham, said a French militant carried out a suicide attack against government forces, driving a bomb-rigged tank across the front lines.
Aircraft operated by Russia, a vital ally of Assad, have heavily bombarded rebels in the city, which has been divided between rebel areas and government-held neighborhoods in the west since 2012.

Western officials have expressed concern about a flotilla of Russian warships — including an aircraft carrier capable of holding 40 planes — that appears to be making its way toward the Syrian coast, possibly to help Assad's forces in Aleppo.

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed reporting.