Backed By Russia, Syrian Troops Advance In A Major Battle For Aleppo
With the assistance of Russian airstrikes, President Bashar Assad's forces are pressing ahead with a major offensive around the northern city of Aleppo, a development that has sent another wave of Syrian civilians seeking refugee in neighboring Turkey.
Aleppo was Syria's largest city and an economic hub before the war, though many civilians have fled as it has become one of the most contested battlegrounds. For the past several years, government troops have controlled the western part and a patchwork of rebel forces have held the east.
The government forces began their push in recent months after Russia's military intervened on Assad's behalf. The Syrian army has cut a crucial rebel supply line to Turkey. This has stoked fears that the army is looking to surround the rebels and impose a siege on them and the hundreds of thousands of civilians in that part of the city.
The Aleppo fighting also contributed to suspension of Syrian peace talks in Geneva on Thursday. The Assad government has little incentive to negotiate at a time when it's making gains on the battlefield, and the rebels argue that Assad is not serious about negotiations.
The government's battlefield momentum elated its supporters. Residents in the towns of Nubol and Zahraa, near Aleppo, rejoiced as Syrian troops entered. The two Shiite towns were long cut off from other government territories. They had survived a siege that lasted three years, depending on government airdrops of food and supplies and rare transactions with a neighboring Kurdish enclave. The Syrian government pointed to conditions in these areas as a motivation for the current offensive.
MORE...
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/02/06/465407798/backed-by-russia-syrian-troops-advance-in-a-major-battle-for-aleppo
= new reply since forum marked as read
