SYRIA: FSA troops target government strongholds in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Record ID: 281524

  • Title: SYRIA: FSA troops target government strongholds in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
  • Date: 15th October 2012
  • Summary: ALEPPO, SYRIA (OCTOBER 15, 2012) (REUTERS) FSA SOLDIER WALKING ALONG STREET WITH GUN VARIOUS OF BADLY DAMAGED STREETS AND BUILDINGS VARIOUS OF FSA TROOPS WALKING ALONG STREETS COVERED IN RUBBLE, AUDIO OF GUNFIRE FSA TROOPS STANDING ON CORNER, TYRE BURNING, AUDIO OF GUNFIRE FSA TROOP CROUCHED AT CORNER, SHOOTING GUN SMOKE BILLOWING FROM TYRE FSA TROOP SHOOTING BEHIND CLOUD
  • Embargoed: 30th October 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4QIDVLO1SKY3842TXZQVOOTCQ
  • Story Text: Free Syrian Army troops engage in street battles in Aleppo.


    Syrian rebels and government forces fought street by street and village by village on Monday (October 15) while in Baghdad International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi appealed to Iraq to help arrange a ceasefire.
    But there was no let up from either side and with fighting raging on Monday in several Syrian cities and in the countryside, it was not clear if they would want to put the brakes on any battlefield advantages.
    In Aleppo, in the northwest of the country, Free Syria Army fighters said they were making progress in their battle against troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
    ''The field is in continuous progression, we are surrounding Mudaheme in the north, from Bustan Al Basha area and in the south from Suleiman Al Halabi area,'' said the commander of an FSA unit.
    Another of the fighters had a message for those in the region who he considered have failed to provide real support for the rebels.
    ''The situation is good, and in God's will it's in progress. We will win over Assad the dog but I want to deliver a message to the Arabs, the Arabs who betrayed us. The Arabs who said at first they will support the opposition party and the free army but at the end they retreated," said the unnamed fighter.
    From their position amongst the rubble of destroyed buildings the rebel fighters used an ancient method to bombard their enemy, making use of a catapult to propel grenades towards unseen enemy forces.
    ''This is a bomb from the stone age, very very old. And in God's will we will destroy them and destroy their buildings," said another of the rebel fighters.
    The conflict has claimed more than 30,000 lives since March 2011, when demonstrations first broke out calling for an end to the Assad family's dynastic rule.
    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 50 people had been killed across the country so far on Monday, nearly half of them soldiers. That followed a death toll of 170 on Sunday.
    The pro-opposition Observatory said two rebel-held districts in northeast Aleppo, al-Shaar and Karm al-Jabal, came under heavy bombardment from Assad's forces on Monday. It also reported clashes in the district of Jdeideh, just north of the ancient citadel in Syria's biggest city.
    In northwestern Idlib province, government warplanes bombed several towns on Monday, the Observatory said.
    On the border with Turkey's Hatay province, the rebels appeared to have a tentative hold after four days of heavy fighting in the town of Azmarin and surrounding villages.
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