Syrian rebels launch 'unprecedented' battle for control of Aleppo
The Free Syrian Army launched the offensive yesterday afternoon, opening up multiple fronts against the government throughout Aleppo in a bid to end a two-month stalemate.
The Free Syrian Army launched the offensive yesterday afternoon, opening up multiple fronts against the government throughout Aleppo in a bid to end a two-month stalemate.
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Syrian rebel fighters have launched what they described as a "decisive" battle in Aleppo, bringing "unprecedented" clashes to the streets of the city as they try to wrest certain neighborhoods from government control.
Their goal is not to liberate the whole city, but to regain control over parts of the city the Free Syrian Army has lost, a local FSA commander told the Guardian.聽The offensive was launched at 4 p.m. yesterday, he said, speaking by phone from the city.
Aleppo, Syria's largest city and its commercial capital, has been the site of fierce fighting for more than two months now, but the FSA and government troops have been locked in a stalemate for several weeks, the Associated Press reports.
The rebel fighters will attack the government troops on "several fronts," they told The New York Times.聽
In an Agence France-Presse report, residents and activists repeatedly described the level of fighting as unlike anything they had seen so far in the city.
Meanwhile, as the country experienced one of its deadliest days yet on Wednesday, the United Nations announced that if Syrians continue to flee at the same rate they have been, it expects the number of registered refugees to more than double by the end of the year, reaching 710,000, according to The New York Times.聽
Reuters reports that the 710,000 estimate is almost quadruple the forecast the UN made in June.聽