Fighters short of ammunition in sniper- ridden Salahuddin are up against the regime’s superior firepower
ALEPPO – Four men from the rebel Free Syrian Army check their assault rifles and sling them over their shoulders.
Their commander, Abu Thabet, calls them over to give final instructions before they head through the deadly, sniper-ridden neighbourhood of Salahuddin in Aleppo.
“Keep your heads down, stick close to the sides of the buildings and walk fast,” he tells them.
Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city and the engine room of its economy, is seen as a vital prize by both sides in the 17-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. A Reuters crew joined the group from the Seyoof al-Shahbaa brigade on its way to reinforce 20 of their men.
Rebels took control of Salahuddin early this month but last week troops backed by tanks, warplanes and helicopter gunships launched a fierce offensive to drive them out.
Army snipers are now posted in the area, a southern gateway to Aleppo, after tanks and jets battered rebels for days.
Rebels short of ammunition are up against Assad’s superior firepower, even if tanks are hard to manoeuvre through narrow streets in this city of 2.5 million.
Abu Thabet’s men walk into the edge of Salahuddin in single file, hugging the buildings and clutching their rifles.
In fatigues and a sleeveless T-shirt, their leader’s left arm lies in a sling after a piece of shrapnel broke his shoulder a few days ago. In his good hand he holds a pistol.
Clambering up the fallen concrete using a makeshift wooden ladder, the group enters a bombed-out building. Abu Thabet’s men have broken holes in the walls to create safe passages for them to move around, out of the snipers’ sights.
“Now we are on a street parallel to Al-Albesa Street,” Abu Thabet explained. This building takes them into a maze of holes through deserted homes and apartment hallways back to back until they reach the roundabout that for now marks the frontline.
Rebels squeeze through the holes – legs first, then arms, scratching their skin and turning their hair white with dust.
There is evidence of abandoned lives all around. A prayer mat lies on the floor of a bedroom. A bird cage stands empty. In a kitchen, a jar of pickles sits half-eaten and rotting on the counter, flies circle around a pile of dishes in the sink.
“We are now at the Salahuddin roundabout. The new frontline of the battle of Aleppo,” said Abu Thabet, walking out into the bright street. “The army is just behind this building.”
At the edge of the street facing the roundabout, a group of five rebels take cover behind a broken wall. “The army is advancing into the Salahuddin roundabout and bringing more reinforcements,” said Abu Yazen (29), an army defector who was in charge of the fighters at the roundabout.
Sniper fire starts up, the bullets snapping through the air overhead. Suddenly, the slow rumble of a tank could be heard from one street over. “Tank! tank! tank!” yelled one man.
Quickly, a rebel shifted a rocket-propelled grenade over his shoulder and skipped down to squat on the rubble-filled ground.
All the men screamed: “Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar (God is great).” Seconds later, the grenade goes off with a swoosh and boom. “I got it, I got it,” cried the man who fired it. Then the mundane bleep of a text message, a government announcement claiming its forces control Salahuddin and have cleansed it of rebels. The men laugh.
But minutes later, a tank shell flies overhead and explodes on a building nearby, deafening ears.
Then another tank shell booms, and the rebels fire another grenade, only to be met with a rain of mortar bombs filling the sky with smoke and shrapnel. “They’re going to send more mortars. Hide in the doorway!” Abu Yazen screams.
Panicked rebels tell journalists to leave for their own safety.
“They’re taking revenge, they’re going to mortar this place to bits!” shouts one rebel waving his automatic rifle.
Five tank shells explode. The air is thick with hissing, burning, black smoke. Warplanes rumble overhead, firing downwards. – (Reuters)