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Syrian Forces Renew Attack on Aleppo Syrian Army Steps Up Assault on Rebel Forces in Aleppo
(about 1 hour later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Forces loyal to the Syrian government stepped up their assault on the key rebel stronghold of Aleppo on Friday, leading to some of the heaviest fighting in months, according to outside observers and fighters in the city. CAIRO — Clashes that antigovernment activists described as the heaviest in months erupted on the edge of a rebel-controlled neighborhood in Syria’s largest city on Friday while opposition activists debated how the United States’ decision to send arms would affect their fight to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
President Bashar al-Assad’s troops’ renewed offensive began as American officials signaled a willingness to provide greater support to the rebels like proving them with small arms, ammunition and a variety of anti-tank weaponry like shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenades. The Obama administration announced on Thursday that Mr. Assad’s troops had used chemical weapons and that the United States would send small arms and ammunition to rebel fighters for the first time.
The commander of the main Western-backed rebel group, Gen. Salim Idris, said that new weapons would help the morale of his fighters, who have suffered a series of losses in recent weeks. Rebels gathered in an apartment near one of the front lines that divide Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, were surprised by the Obama administration’s announcement and focused on a question asked by many in Syria’s beleaguered opposition: Would the promised aid really help the rebels or would it be too little, too late, as government forces continue to make gains and consolidate control.
An older rebel who leads a few dozen fighters on one of the front lines in Aleppo was skeptical. “I’ll believe that America is helping us when I see American arms in my group’s hands, not statements and food baskets,” said the fighter, Abu Zaki, 40.
American officials said the military aid would be coordinated by the Central Intelligence Agency and could include antitank weapons. It would not, however, include the antiaircraft weapons that rebel leaders have long said they need to challenge Mr. Assad’s air force.
Gen. Salim Idris, the head of the military wing of Syria’s Western-backed opposition, said that the new weapons would boost his fighters’ morale after a string of recent losses to Mr. Assad’s forces and their allies in Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group. He said he also hoped new weapons would help his fighters take a more aggressive role for the opposition, whose forces are now dominated by radical Islamists aligned with Al Qaeda.
“We hope to have the weapons and ammunition we need in a few weeks,” he said in an interview with the television news channel Al Arabiya.“We hope to have the weapons and ammunition we need in a few weeks,” he said in an interview with the television news channel Al Arabiya.
Mr. Assad’s government lashed out at the American decision to arm the rebels, saying in a statement released by the official news media that government forces were engaged in a struggle with terrorists and that the United States was guilty of hypocrisy. Mr. Assad’s government denied that it had used chemical weapons and lashed out at the American decision to arm the rebels. “While seeking banal means to justify the U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to arm the Syrian opposition, the U.S. is practicing a flagrant double standard policy in dealing with terrorism,” the statement read.
“The White House has issued a statement full of lies about the use of chemical weapons in Syria based on fabricated information,” the regime said in a statement issued Friday by the Syrian Foreign Ministry. “The United States is using cheap tactics to justify President Barack Obama’s decision to arm the Syrian opposition.” Much remained unclear about the American aid, including the number that it would involve, when the weapons would arrive and how they would be distributed. For at least some of those in Aleppo, worried about the approach of government forces, the announcement was good news. Although many said it was not nearly everything the rebels need, it was a step.
The Syrian regime received renewed support from Russia, with a top foreign policy adviser to President Vladimir Putin’s saying that the United States did not have proof to back its claim that government forces had used chemical weapons. “Now we can say Americans are our real friends, and we will not forget their position and help to finish the Assad regime,” said an activist named Abdel-Qader, 30.
“The information that has been presented, the facts that have been presented do not look convincing to us,” Yury Ushakov told reporters in Moscow The Obama administration had been hesitant about sending military aid, saying that it would inflame the conflict and that the weapons could fall into the hands of extremists who have risen in the rebel ranks.
It remained unclear when weapons might start flowing to the rebels, and the Syrian Army’s offensive in Aleppo seemed to suggest that the government wanted to take advantage of what its saw as rebel weakness. Those calculations appear to have shifted after the administration concluded that Syrian government forces had used chemical weapons — a move that President Obama had called a “red line.”
The fighting on Friday was fiercest in and around the eastern rebel-held neighborhood of Sakhour, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists inside the country for information. A White House official said Thursday that Mr. Assad’s military had used chemical weapons “on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year.” It is believed that 100 to 150 people have died in the attacks, the announcement said, but officials cautioned that the number could be higher.
The American calculations have also been influenced by the overt role played by Hezbollah fighters in the government’s recent rout of rebel forces in Qusayr on the Syrian-Lebanese border. Intervention by Hezbollah and continued arms shipments to government forces by Russia and Iran have raised fears that the anti-Assad insurgency could collapse.
Military gains by Mr. Assad’s forces could improve his bargaining position at an international conference — approved by the United States and Russia — that is scheduled to take place in Geneva this month. It is not clear that the meeting, which is intended to negotiate an end to the conflict, would actually proceed.
Since the fall of Qusayr, antigovernment activists have reported government troop movements toward Aleppo, which remains roughly divided between the rebel and government forces, with front lines snaking in between.
Friday’s fighting was the fiercest near the rebel-held neighborhood of Sakhour in eastern Aleppo, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of contacts inside Syria for information.
Government forces bombarded the area with missiles and tank shells for several hours before sending in ground troops from two directions in an attempt to gain control over the strategically important roadways that cut through the area, witnesses said.Government forces bombarded the area with missiles and tank shells for several hours before sending in ground troops from two directions in an attempt to gain control over the strategically important roadways that cut through the area, witnesses said.
It was unclear if the assault was successful. Some rebel fighters in the city suggested that it was designed as much as a show of strength as it was an attempt to actually seize territory. Rebels said Friday that they had repelled the Assad forces. It was unclear if the assault was successful. Some rebel fighters in the city suggested that it was designed as much to make a show of strength as it was to actually seize territory.
Abu Muawiya, the commander of several battalions in Aleppo known as “al-Buraq al-Islamiya,” said in a telephone interview that rebel forces had not lost any ground and were prepared for a government assault. Abu Louay, an activist in Aleppo, said that the rebels were preparing for heavy fighting near the airport to the city’s southeast.
“We will have martyrs no doubt,” he said, “but we will kill a lot of them.” Aleppo, which is near the Turkish border, is Syria’s largest city and before the war was a hub of commerce, prized for both its beauty and ancient treasures.
Abu Louay, an activist in Aleppo, said that rebels were preparing for heavy fighting around the airport as well. As the rebellion grew after the government’s bloody crackdown against largely peaceful protesters in March 2011, Aleppo was at first spared the worst of the violence. But in July 2012, rebels stormed the city, and after months of battles established control in many areas. The strategic victory came at a great cost, reducing neighborhoods to rubble and leaving scores dead or wounded.
Located near the Turkish border, Aleppo is Syria’s largest city and before the war was a hub of commerce, prized for both its beauty and ancient treasures. As the rebellion grew after the government’s bloody crackdown against largely peaceful protesters in March 2011, Aleppo was at first spared the worst of the violence. But in July 2012, rebels aligning themselves with the Free Syrian Army stormed the city, and after months of brutal urban battles it established control in many areas. The strategic victory came at a great cost, reducing neighborhoods to rubble and leaving scores dead or wounded. As the fighting has worn on, residents who have remained in the city have suffered from shortages of oil, food, medicine, doctors and gas.
As the fighting has worn on, residents who remained have suffered from shortages of oil, food, medicine, doctors and gas. In all, more than 90,000 people have been killed in fighting across the country, according to a United Nations report released on Thursday. In all, more than 90,000 people have been killed in fighting across the country, according to a United Nations report released on Thursday.
In recent weeks, Mr. Assad’s military has been emboldened, scoring key victories in strategically important areas and gaining the unreserved backing of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group. Earlier this month, government forces managed to recapture the strategic city of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border, which had been under the control of insurgents for a year. The city had provided a conduit of weapons and fighters from Lebanon to the insurgents.

 Hania Mourtada in Beirut and an employee of The New York Times in Aleppo, Syria, contributed reporting.

The government soldiers were backed by Hezbollah militants, and together they successfully drove out Sunni rebels following a drawn-out battle, which brought deepening sectarian schisms into sharp relief. The battle for Qusayr marked a clear setback for rebel forces, prompting many observers to refer to it as a turning point in the Syrian conflict.
If the recent military gains hold, the embattled Mr. Assad will have more leverage on the diplomatic front during an international conference set in Geneva, which is expected to take place later this month.
However, his position will be complicated by the Obama administration’s conclusion, announced Thursday, that government forces have used chemical weapons against rebel forces. Mr. Obama has long said that the use of such weapons represented a “red line.”
Intelligence officials believe 100 to 150 people have died from chemical weapons attacks, but they cautioned that the number could be much higher.
The Assad government has denied using such weapons and criticized the United State in a statement released through the official state news media on Friday.
“While seeking banal means to justify the U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to arm the Syrian opposition, the U.S. is practicing a flagrant double standard policy in dealing with terrorism,” the statement read.
Some American lawmakers are urging Mr. Obama to go even further in his support for the rebels, including the establishment of a no-flight zone to provide a haven for opposition forces. However, imposing a no-flight zone would require the United States to destroy Syria’s air defenses and draw America deeper into a conflict that the Obama administration has been wary of from the outset.

Hania Mourtada reported from Beirut, Lebanon, and Marc Santora from New York.