Civilians in eastern Aleppo remain under partial siege

Overstretched and undermanned Syrian government forces were on the defensive south of Aleppo yesterday after rebel fighters broke through the siege of opposition-held quarters of the city.

The Syrian army engaged Jaish al-Fatah, a coalition controlling Idlib province west of Aleppo, on the south-western outskirts of the city, while other insurgent fighters exerted pressure from within.

Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) is an alliance of radical fundamentalist factions dominated by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and Ahrar al-Sham, which had pledged to raise an army to lift the siege of eastern Aleppo.

The site of the battle was the Ramoussa military complex which has served as a base for the army and allied groups defending government-held quarters of Aleppo on the west. Troops reportedly lost control of some facilities in the complex during heavy fighting but regained possession of most early yesterday while the insurgents swept through after seizing artillery, armoured vehicles, and weapons from an arsenal in the complex.

Munitions

Arms, munitions and reinforcements have not been able to reach east Aleppo since the supply route, the Castello Road, to the Turkish border was closed on July 7th.

The objective of the insurgent offensive was to open a new corridor and break the siege and blockade of the eastern quarters, where 250,000 people are believed to live. This was only partially attained. Fighters entered the besieged districts and eight pick-up trucks carrying fresh vegetables were able to get through but no civilians were able to leave as the route remained insecure.

Insurgents in the east welcomed the arrival of fighters and weapons but it is not clear how many broke through and how heavily they were armed.

Hoarding

The insurgent advance places the 1.2 million civilians in government-held districts under partial siege, prompting families to hoard bread and fresh food sending the price of staples soaring. A source in

Damascus

confirmed that the road to western Aleppo was closed.

The injection of men and arms into the eastern quarters is certain to deepen the stalemate over Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city and commercial hub. Exerting external control over the city’s eastern quarters through siege was for the government a major strategic advantage, while denying the government this advantage was an important goal of the insurgents. If Aleppo’s east-west territorial status quo is maintained, neither side would gain political leverage in talks planned for Geneva later this month.

North of Aleppo, fighters of US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, comprised of Arab and Kurdish fighters, have seized around 80 per cent of the border city of Manbij from Islamic State. Their objective is to close the route used by the jihadis to transport food supplies, weapons and fighters from Turkey to Raqqa, Islamic State's capital.

Without securing Manbij, it would be impossible to mount a siege of Raqqa which must coincide with the planned Iraqi offensive against Islamic State-occupied Mosul if the jihadi faction is to be defeated and eradicated in both Syria and Iraq.