SYRIA: Rebel commander says forces loyal to Assad forced to withdraw from Aleppo district

Record ID: 281216

  • Title: SYRIA: Rebel commander says forces loyal to Assad forced to withdraw from Aleppo district
  • Date: 31st July 2012
  • Summary: RESENDING WITH SCRIPT ALEPPO, SYRIA (JULY 30, 2012) (REUTERS) COLONEL ABDELJABAR EL-AKEEDI, LEADER OF JOINT MILITARY COUNCIL IN ALEPPO AKEEDI SPEAKING WITH REPORTER FREE SYRIAN ARMY BADGE SOUNDBITE (Arabic) COLONEL ABDELJABAR EL-AKEEDI, SAYING: "For three days, the regime was trying to take control of Salaheddin, but it's attempts have failed and it suffered heavy losses i
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2012 13:00
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  • Location: Sweden
  • Country: Sweden
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA1Q2YGK79H3XSF1QWQWG5VGT0Z
  • Story Text: Former Syrian army colonel Abdeljabar El-Akeedi who has defected says forces loyal to President Assad had to withdraw from Salaheddin after three days of heavy fighting.
    Akeedi, who defected from the Syrian army six months ago, is now in control of the joint military council in Aleppo.

    "For three days, the regime was trying to take control of Salaheddin, but it's attempts have failed and it suffered heavy losses in human life, weapons and tanks. They were forced to give up," Akeedi said.
    The joint military council is one of the groups fighting, amongst other groups, in Aleppo against Assad's forces.
    Akeedi says they have enough weapons that they can hit helicopters and tanks which are the main threats for rebels on the ground.
    The colonel says he hopes the capture of Aleppo city centre will happen within days.

    "Our goals are not for the coming months but we have goals for the coming days. Within days, God-willing, Aleppo will be liberated. Our battle is a street-war with the regime. We liberated some areas and are trying to establish stability as soon as we secure our areas. Then we will move forward to other neighbourhoods in the direction of the city centre, God-willing, we will liberate Aleppo and all its security sides," he said.
    The Syrian military has stepped up its campaign to drive rebels out of Aleppo, where fighters said they were holding firm, vowing to turn the country's largest city into the "regime's grave".
    A Reuters reporter heard helicopters firing heavy machineguns over the eastern part of the city on Tuesday for the first time in several days.
    Hospitals and makeshift clinics in rebel-held eastern neighbourhoods were filling up with casualties from a week of fighting in the city, a commercial hub drawn into the 16-month-long revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
    The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 100 people, 73 of them civilians, were killed in Syria on Monday. It said five rebel fighters died during clashes with Syrian forces in Salaheddine.
    The Syrian government has said it has recaptured Salaheddin. Reuters journalists in Aleppo have not been able to reach the neighbourhood to verify who holds it.
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