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| Battles rage across Aleppo as Assad regime fights to quash rebels | Battles rage across Aleppo as Assad regime fights to quash rebels |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Battles are raging across the province of Aleppo in Syria, as government forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad fight to push back rebel advances that led over the weekend to the collapse of a siege imposed on the opposition-controlled east of the country’s second-largest city. | Battles are raging across the province of Aleppo in Syria, as government forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad fight to push back rebel advances that led over the weekend to the collapse of a siege imposed on the opposition-controlled east of the country’s second-largest city. |
| Activists say intense airstrikes have continued unabated after rebels seized Ramouseh, a district in south-west Aleppo, allowing them to open a corridor into the besieged areas. | Activists say intense airstrikes have continued unabated after rebels seized Ramouseh, a district in south-west Aleppo, allowing them to open a corridor into the besieged areas. |
| “We are in our trenches but there are insane airstrikes of unprecedented ferociousness,” a commander in the rebel coalition told Reuters. “The regime is using cluster and vacuum bombs.” | “We are in our trenches but there are insane airstrikes of unprecedented ferociousness,” a commander in the rebel coalition told Reuters. “The regime is using cluster and vacuum bombs.” |
| Related: Syria’s rebels unite to break Assad’s siege of Aleppo | Related: Syria’s rebels unite to break Assad’s siege of Aleppo |
| Over the weekend, rebels in a coalition known as Jaish al-Fatah launched a lightning advance that sealed the conquest of Ramouseh, a key district through which supplies flow to government forces in western Aleppo city. The advance followed a rare show of unity among the opposition, which began a campaign a week ago involving thousands of fighters working to break the siege of Aleppo. | Over the weekend, rebels in a coalition known as Jaish al-Fatah launched a lightning advance that sealed the conquest of Ramouseh, a key district through which supplies flow to government forces in western Aleppo city. The advance followed a rare show of unity among the opposition, which began a campaign a week ago involving thousands of fighters working to break the siege of Aleppo. |
| The city has been a battleground since 2012, when it was stormed by the opposition and divided into a regime-controlled western half and an east under rebel dominion. The east has been left in ruins, pummelled in an unforgiving aerial campaign by the Assad regime. | The city has been a battleground since 2012, when it was stormed by the opposition and divided into a regime-controlled western half and an east under rebel dominion. The east has been left in ruins, pummelled in an unforgiving aerial campaign by the Assad regime. |
| Assad’s troops imposed a siege last month after seizing high ground overlooking the Castello Road, the only thoroughfare bringing aid to the east of the city from Turkey, which backs the opposition. | |
| The rebel victory in Ramouseh, while technically ending the siege, does not mean there will be immediate relief for residents of east Aleppo. The area remains a war zone under intense bombardment, and it is unlikely the opposition can use it yet to ferry in significant supplies. | The rebel victory in Ramouseh, while technically ending the siege, does not mean there will be immediate relief for residents of east Aleppo. The area remains a war zone under intense bombardment, and it is unlikely the opposition can use it yet to ferry in significant supplies. |
| The victory also means this vital district is no longer in government hands, placing western Aleppo itself under siege. Aid organisations estimate that more than 1.5 million people are under siege in the west, compared to a quarter of a million civilians still in the east. | |
| Related: The Observer view on events in Syria | Related: The Observer view on events in Syria |
| Residents and activists in western Aleppo said the prices of basic goods have risen overnight and that there are now shortages of staples such as bread. | Residents and activists in western Aleppo said the prices of basic goods have risen overnight and that there are now shortages of staples such as bread. |
| The greatest beneficiaries of the rebel victory may be Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front). The powerful jihadi group played a major part in the rebel campaign, the first since it publicly severed ties with al-Qaida’s central command. | |
| Though few expect the reconstituted group to alter its ideology, it is now more seen as an efficient fighting force that helped to break the siege of Aleppo when the halting international diplomacy of the US and Russia failed. | |
| “This operation was an advertisement for their new name,” said one activist in Idlib, a province entirely under opposition control and where the former al-Qaida affiliate has a strong presence. “But the names won’t change the reality.” | |
| He added: “They also are sending a message to the west and to America in particular that their fight is in Syria, and Syria only.” |