This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/12/syria-assad-forces-close-to-capturing-east-aleppo
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Assad forces close to capturing east Aleppo after 'doomsday' bombardment | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Forces loyal to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria have drawn closer to their goal of reclaiming all of the city of Aleppo, seizing more territory in a relentless advance that has displaced thousands of civilians. | Forces loyal to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria have drawn closer to their goal of reclaiming all of the city of Aleppo, seizing more territory in a relentless advance that has displaced thousands of civilians. |
| Syrian soldiers and Iranian-backed militias now hold 90% of east Aleppo after wresting control of two more neighbourhoods that were once part of the rebel-held and besieged east of the city, as it emerged that opposition fighters were contemplating a deal to evacuate Aleppo. | Syrian soldiers and Iranian-backed militias now hold 90% of east Aleppo after wresting control of two more neighbourhoods that were once part of the rebel-held and besieged east of the city, as it emerged that opposition fighters were contemplating a deal to evacuate Aleppo. |
| The advance was preceded by some of the most intense bombardment of the war, described as a kind of “doomsday” by one resident, Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, with non-stop artillery shelling through the night and Monday morning and numerous airstrikes. | The advance was preceded by some of the most intense bombardment of the war, described as a kind of “doomsday” by one resident, Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, with non-stop artillery shelling through the night and Monday morning and numerous airstrikes. |
| “The ‘free world’ is witnessing the … slaughter on air,” said another resident in a text message. | “The ‘free world’ is witnessing the … slaughter on air,” said another resident in a text message. |
| “People are under the rubble alive and no one can save them,” said Hamdo, a teacher in the besieged districts. “Some people are injured in the streets and no one can go to help them. The cries and fear of women and children [are] heard from the streets.” | “People are under the rubble alive and no one can save them,” said Hamdo, a teacher in the besieged districts. “Some people are injured in the streets and no one can go to help them. The cries and fear of women and children [are] heard from the streets.” |
| The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the regime was now in control of 90% of east Aleppo after seizing the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Saeed and Saliheen, forcing the rebels into an ever-dwindling pocket of land. Thousands of people had fled the fighting towards government-controlled areas, it added. | |
| An administrator at the last functioning clinic in Aleppo’s rebel-held east told the Associated Press that he and other medical staff were taking cover in a shelter as Syrian troops move in. Mohammed Abu Rajab said a large number of wounded people overwhelmed the clinic and that the dead and wounded were being left in the streets. | |
| Many residents of east Aleppo, which was estimated to house a quarter of a million civilians before the latest government offensive, lived in great deprivation with dwindling food stocks, lack of fuel, water and electricity, and with no functioning hospitals after they were bombed in the campaign. East Aleppo has been under a tight siege for months, and rebel offensives to try to break the blockade have failed. | |
| On Sunday night the rebels were reported to be contemplating an offer of withdrawal from Aleppo that had Russian and US backing. Reuters said that under the terms of the deal received by some rebel officials, they would be allowed to leave bearing light arms to any area in Syria. | On Sunday night the rebels were reported to be contemplating an offer of withdrawal from Aleppo that had Russian and US backing. Reuters said that under the terms of the deal received by some rebel officials, they would be allowed to leave bearing light arms to any area in Syria. |
| Russia denied that an agreement had been reached, and an opposition official contacted by the Guardian said his faction, one of the largest in Aleppo, had not received the offer. He also said Russia was not interested in a deal that would spare civilians while pro-Assad forces made gains on the ground. | Russia denied that an agreement had been reached, and an opposition official contacted by the Guardian said his faction, one of the largest in Aleppo, had not received the offer. He also said Russia was not interested in a deal that would spare civilians while pro-Assad forces made gains on the ground. |
| The rebels had proposed a five-day ceasefire to evacuate civilians and the wounded, but that was ignored by Assad and his allies. | The rebels had proposed a five-day ceasefire to evacuate civilians and the wounded, but that was ignored by Assad and his allies. |
| “Let us be clear, the regime is insistent on committing a massacre in order to achieve a historic victory against its own people with Russian and Iranian aid,” said Bassam Mustafa, a member of the political office of the Noureddine al-Z enki militia group. “Therefore they will not accept any [offer of] safe passage. We challenge them for the thousandth time to discuss anything that is for the good of the civilians that they have been bombing with barrel bombs and chlorine.” | |
| The latest advances by Assad’s forces have brought them closer than ever to a major victory in the war. Aleppo, Syria’s former industrial and commercial capital, has been divided between rebel and government forces since 2012. Its fate has long been seen as a signal of the war’s momentum. | |
| Its loss would be a major blow to the opposition, which will be bereft of any major urban stronghold. But there are doubts that the government can consolidate its victories, which have been backed by Russian airpower, on the ground. On Sunday the government lost control of the historic city of Palmyra for a second time to Islamic State fighters, despite a wave of intense bombings by the Russian air force the night before. |