Aleppo fighting intensifies
BEIRUT — Fighting over Syria’s largest city intensified Friday, with the most widespread battles reported there in two months as rebel forces launched a new offensive to rout President Bashar Assad’s forces from Aleppo, activists said.
Some of the heaviest fighting erupted in the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood of Sheikh Maksoud, which was drawn into the conflict for the first time. Kurds make up Syria’s largest minority and have been split in their loyalties. Since the uprising against Assad began 18 months ago, some Kurds have sided with the rebels while others have supported the regime. Aleppo’s Sheikh Maksoud neighbourhood is mostly under the control of a pro-government Kurdish group. There were conflicting reports on whether Kurdish gunmen took part in Friday’s fighting.
Aleppo, a city of three million that was once a bastion of support for Assad, has emerged as a key battleground in Syria’s civil war. Its fall would give the opposition a major strategic victory, with a stronghold in the north near the Turkish border. A rebel defeat, at the very least, would buy the regime more time. “The city is witnessing one of the most violent days. All fronts are on fire,” activist Baraa al-Halabi said. In the diplomatic arena, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was hosting representatives of the Friends of Syria group — a coalition that includes the United States, the European Union and the Arab League — on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The group is seeking better cooperation among the groups that oppose Assad.