Syria army redeploys after rebels ‘break’ Aleppo siege

BEIRUT — Syrian regime forces redeployed on Sunday to try to avoid being surrounded in neighbourhoods they control in Aleppo, after a rebel alliance said it had broken a three-week government siege.

A coalition of rebels and extremists surged through regime territory on Saturday to open a new route into the northern city's besieged eastern neighbourhoods, home to an estimated 250,000 people.

The operation triggered celebrations in eastern districts and sparked fears in regime-controlled western areas of the divided city of food and fuel shortages.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the rebel action was one of the most significant setbacks for government forces since the conflict erupted in March 2011.

"Despite more than 600 Russian strikes, the regime forces were not able to hold on to their positions," he said.

Steadfast regime ally Moscow has provided air support for forces loyal to President Bashar Assad since September 20.

Official media denied that the siege had been broken but implicitly admitted that regime forces were on the defensive and that pro-government areas were facing shortages in the country's ravaged second city.

State television said on Sunday: "Our forces have redeployed after absorbing the attack of thousands of mercenaries, and the army has found a new route to allow food and gas in." 

"The army has found an alternative way to move food and fuel supplies into western Aleppo,” it said.

The observatory reported intermittent air strikes and clashes Sunday on the city's southern edges, where rebels overran buildings in a military academy the previous day.

Food trucks enter Aleppo 

Rebel units on Saturday pushed northeast into the Ramussa district where they linked up with other insurgents who had fought from inside the city.

Footage posted by rebels showed their fighters embracing and celebrating the end of the government siege, in place since July 17.

On Sunday, rebel forces brought seven pick-up trucks full of fruit and vegetables into eastern districts of Aleppo to be distributed to local markets, an opposition fighter said.

Video footage seen by AFP showed crates of plums, tomatoes, watermelons and vegetables lined up along a road.

An AFP journalist said hungry residents quickly bought up the supplies.

The observatory’s Abdel Rahman said the route into eastern districts is open only to fighters.

“Not a single civilian has left the eastern districts because the road is too dangerous and not secured,” he said.

The rebel advance now puts the estimated 1.2 million people in government-held districts under opposition encirclement, he added.

“The western districts of Aleppo are now besieged. There are no safe routes for civilians in government-held districts to use to get into or out of the city,” he told AFP. 

Food prices skyrocket 

Families in western neighbourhoods have, meanwhile, rushed to stock up on food and water in preparation for a siege.

“Unfortunately, after the road was cut, the price of a loaf of bread immediately shot up from 200 to 800 Syrian pounds,” said Walaa Hariri, a 48-year-old mother of three from the Furqan district.

“I sent my sons to school but they are all nervous, and the teachers replaced their regular lessons with courses on what to do if there is shelling,” she said.

A man aged 37 who declined to be identified said he has “faith in the army, but I can’t help being scared”.

“Food is already getting more expensive and the coming days risk being very difficult,” he added. 

The battle for Aleppo is among the fiercest so far in Syria’s chaotic multi-front war, which has killed more than 280,000 people.

Rebel and regime forces have fought to control the provincial capital since mid-2012, transforming Syria’s former economic powerhouse into a divided, bombed-out city.

SANA said 10 civilians were killed on Saturday in rebel shelling of two government-held districts, and the Britain-based observatory reported the death of a girl in opposition fire on Sunday.

Pope Francis on Sunday denounced the “unacceptable” number of civilian victims in Aleppo, mentioning in particular the number of children killed in the conflict.

The observatory said at least 130 civilians have been killed since the opposition alliance launched its offensive on southern Aleppo on July 31.

More than 700 fighters from both sides were killed in the onslaught, most of them rebels because of the regime’s air superiority, it said. 

Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against Assad’s rule but has since evolved into a brutal war that has drawn in world powers.