Friday, August 17, 2012

#Syria reports clashes near airport in battle-scarred Aleppo

Syria reports clashes near airport in battle-scarred Aleppo - The Washington Post
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3:31 PM - 17 Aug 12 via Tweet Button · Details

Syria reports clashes near airport in battle-scarred Aleppo

(Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press ) - A Syrian man grieves over the bodies of four members of his family, who were killed when an airstrike hit their house, as they lie on the side of the street outside a field hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad’s regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.
  • (Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press ) - A Syrian man grieves over the bodies of four members of his family, who were killed when an airstrike hit their house, as they lie on the side of the street outside a field hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad’s regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.
  • (Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press ) - Syrians look for survivors in under the rubble of a building hit by an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad’s regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.
  • (Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press ) - Blood is seen on a foot of an injured Syrian man while he receives treatment at a field hospital in Aleppo city, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad’s regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.
  • (Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press ) - An injured Syrian fighter sits on the ground after being treated at a field hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad’s regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.
  • (Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press ) - An injured Syrian fighter flashes the victory sign as he arrives at a field hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad’s regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.
  • (Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press ) - A Syrian man grieves as he stands before the bodies of his family, unseen, who died in an airstrike that hit their house in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad’s regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, August 17, 3:13 PM

BEIRUT — Government troops fought back rebels near the airport of battle-scarred Aleppo, Syria’s state media said Friday, in the first official acknowledgement combat had neared a strategic gateway to the country’s largest city.
As fighting raged in both Aleppo and the Syrian capital Damascus, the United Nations announced that Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister and veteran U.N. diplomat, would serve as the world body’s new peace envoy, aiming to resume efforts for a diplomatic solution to what has become an intractable civil war.
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Fighting in Syria: Violence escalates between government and opposition forces in the key Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus.
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Brahimi, who previously served as envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan, replaces former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who announced he would leave the post by the end of this month after failing to bring about a cease-fire despite months of negotiations.
The announcement came just as U.N. observers in Syria were beginning to pack their things on Friday in preparation to close down their mission. Deployment of the observers was one of the only steps taken under Annan’s peace plan. The team was intended to watch over a cease-fire that never took hold, and so was left trying to chronicle some of the more egregious instances of bloodshed.
Both sides have “chosen the path of war,” said the U.N.’s assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping, Edmond Mulet. The U.N. plans to keep a small liaison office to support any future peace efforts.
The 17-month-old conflict between President Bashar Assad’s regime and rebels trying to bring him down has left some 20,000 people dead, according to estimates by anti-Assad activists. The escalating fight has in the past two months turned to battles in the country’s two main cities, Damascus and Aleppo — once firm bastions of Assad’s rule. Rebels have managed to keep fighting in both cities despite facing overwhelming regime firepower.
In Damascus, activists reported heavy shelling and clashes in many areas Friday, including western districts believed to have rebel pockets. Damascus-based activist Moaz al-Shami described the shelling as “nonstop” and said gunners were firing from the Qassioun mountains overlooking the city.
Regime forces have been fighting for nearly a month to crush the rebels’ footholds in Aleppo, in the north of the country. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.
Syria’s official SANA news agency said “armed terrorist groups” — the regime’s phrase for rebels — had been pushed out from areas on both sides of the airport, which is located about 15 kilometers (nine miles) southeast of Aleppo’s historical center. The report did not make it clear whether the fighting was closer to the international airport or the adjacent military airfield, a base for carrying out airstrikes on rebel sites in the north.
Aleppo carries major symbolic and strategic value. It’s the commercial hub of northern Syria and close to rebel-held territory and critical supply corridors to the Turkish border
Posted by Robby Ball at 12:37 PM