Caught in the CROSSFIRE as war for Aleppo intensifies
CLUSTER BOMBS, BUNKER-BUSTERS LEAVE HUNDREDS DEAD
BEIRUT• With international diplomacy in tatters and the U.S. focused on its election, the Syrian government and its Russian allies are seizing the moment to wage an all- out campaign to recapture Aleppo, unleashing the most destructive bombing of the past five years and pushing into the centre of the Old City.
After five days of blistering airstrikes — including white phosphorus, cluster munitions and “bunkerbuster” bombs — Syrian government forces appear to have made their first all- out ground assault to retake the city.
Desperate residents describe horrific scenes with hospitals and underground shelters hit by indiscrimin- ate airstrikes that the UN said may amount to a war crime.
Debris covers streets lined with bombed- out buildings, trapping people in their neighbourhoods and hindering rescue workers. On Tuesday, activists reported at least 11 people killed in airstrikes on two districts in the rebel-held part of Aleppo.
Hundreds have died in the past few days.
The battle for Aleppo is unlikely to be an easy one for government forces because the isolated rebels say they are determined to “fight until the end” to defend their neighbourhoods, while a Syrian military official vowed to “wipe out” the terrorists.
Once Syria’s industrial hub and most populous city, Aleppo is so important to both sides that it is said whoever takes it, wins the war. A Western diplomat said he feared that with neither side strong enough, there could be a year of street- to- street fighting.
“The only way to take eastern Aleppo is by such a monstrous atrocity that it would resonate for generations,” he said.
President Bashar Assad “doesn’t want a negotiation,” said the diplomat who is familiar with the ceasefire talks that have faltered, adding that “the Russians wouldn’t or couldn’t stop him” from attacking Aleppo.
In Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Syria’s ambassador that Moscow has “a firm intention to continue providing assistance to the Syrian government in fighting terrorism and to help achieve the soonest possible political settlement of the Syrian crisis.”
Opposition forces control almost half of Aleppo, the only major city where rebels hold such a large area. The UN says more than 250,000 people live in the rebel- held areas, while more than one million are in the government- controlled part that is usually subjected to shelling.
Residents are stunned by the intensity of the bombing on areas that have seen a sharp increase in food prices due to the siege, which tightened earlier this month.
Doctors say hospitals are overwhelmed and running out of supplies. Save the Children said operations were being conducted without anaesthetic.
“The regime is cowardly in battle,” said Abdulkafi alHamdo, an English teacher living close to the front line. “So they burn everything from the skies first and then progress.”
Ibrahim Alhaj, a member of the Syrian Civil Defence, said his parents’ house was shelled, and he was able to save them only because he lives nearby.
Assad “listens to no one — not the United Nations, not anyone,” a desperate and exhausted Alhaj said. “Is there no humanity in this world?”
Several thousand rebels from different factions are believed holed up in eastern Aleppo, with the largest being the Nour el- Din el- Zinki group.
“The regime and its allies know very well the high price they will pay if they try to storm liberated Aleppo,” said Yasser Alyousef, a spokesman for the group, referring to the rebel-held sector. “The rebels have become experts in street warfare and ways to drain the enemy.”
Since the one-week ceasef i re brokered by Russia and the U. S. collapsed Sept. 19, Aleppo has been under intense Russian and Syrian airstrikes, killing more than 200 civilians, knocking down entire buildings, dis- rupting water supplies and targeting Civil Defence centres. At least one of the eight remaining clinics in the city was put out of service.
Attempts to revive the ceasefire during the UN General Assembly failed, and U. S. Ambassador Samantha Powers harshly criticized Russia, saying Moscow was practicing “barbarism.” UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura described “new heights of horror.”
Hilal Khashan, political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said the decision to escalate the fighting occurred because Russia believes the U. S. has not been forthcoming in co- operating on coordinated attacks against the Nusra Front.