Assad exploits rebel in-fighting and attempts to recapture Homs
Damascus (
AsiaNewss / Agencies) - The Syrian army is exploiting the clash between Syrian
rebels and jihadis and has launched a heavy offensive to retake Homs, in the
hands of the armed opposition for over a year. At
least 37 militants were killed in the bombing according to the state agency
Sana, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports over 50. Thousands
of civilians are trapped on two fronts and activists warn there is a new risk
of famine after the one that hit the city in October 2013.
After
the province of Raqqa and Aleppo, the clash between the coalition of Syrian
rebels and extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( Isil ) has
arrived in Hama province where in 2011
the revolt against Bashar al- Assad began. This
morning, a car bomb exploded near a school in the village of al- Kaffat ,
killing at least 18 people, almost all civilians. Yesterday
the "moderate" rebel groups laid siege to the city of al- Dana , one
of the Işil strongholds in Idlib province .
The
fracturing withing the anti-Assad opposition is playing into the hands of the
regime that has expanded its counteroffensive from Aleppo to Hama to the
outskirts of Damascus. After
the bombing with Scud missiles and " barrel bombs " launched on
Syria's largest city, that killed more than 700 people yesterday, the army has
resumed airstrikes dropping bombs and missiles on the Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood
(Aleppo) controlled by rebels.
To
prevent the further dissolution of the opposition, which would mark an Assad victory
, the United States are considering whether to restart non-lethal military aid
frozen on December 11 to avoid strengthening the militants of al- Qaeda. The
New York Times reports the words of
an anonymous government official who admits that the rebels are proving to be
more moderate and the fears and doubts of recent months have been allayed
somewhat by the offensive against Isil . The
final recipient of the aid, however, will be the Supreme Military Council (SMC)
, which together with the Syrian National Council is the only truly moderate
opposition but which has joined the Islamic Front to oust al- Qaeda from Syria.
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