President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have seized a wide swath of rebel territory in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, spurring the flight of tens of thousands of civilians amid intense fighting that put the opposition’s last big urban stronghold under threat of collapse.
Activists and rebel leaders said pro-Assad forces yesterday recaptured the northern districts of the city, which has been divided between opposition forces on the east and Assad forces on the west since the rebels first stormed Syria’s second city in the summer of 2012.
The government advance means that over the course of a few days, rebels have lost about a third of their territory in Aleppo, which has become the most crucial – and bloodiest – battleground of Syria’s five-year civil war.
“There is a state of panic . . . All of eastern Aleppo has reached the peak of suffering – from the hunger, to the cold, to being cut off from the world,” said Mohammed Khandaqani, a medic inside the city who described the situation as “the worst moment since the revolution began in Aleppo”.
While past offensives led to jockeying among world powers to halt the fighting and maintain the status quo, the latest struggle has been marked by the absence of it – at least on the rebel side.
Key opposition supporters appear unable or unwilling to intervene. Turkey is focused on negotiating with Russia in an effort to weaken a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria that has stirred tensions with Turkey’s Kurdish population across the border.
Washington, a reluctant rebel backer, has made no attempt to broker a deal with the Kremlin to stop the bloodshed, as it did in September. Rebels believe the lack of a US diplomatic initiative is a result of Donald Trump’s election, which they feel has disoriented US officials with the prospect of an incoming pro-Assad administration. UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura tried but failed to get negotiations off the ground.
Faced with uncertainty in Washington, Mr Assad’s patrons, Russia and Iran, have moved to take the upper hand both in Aleppo and the wider Syrian war. They are throwing in military assets, with Moscow providing air support as Iran and allied Shia fighters from Lebanon and Iraq pour into the battle.
“Earlier we warned about the regime trying to split besieged [rebel-held] Aleppo in two – instead, they took the northern districts completely,” said Yaser Alyoussef, a spokesman for the Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebel forces.
Residents and medics say at least one district was bombarded yesterday with poison gas, which they suspected to be chlorine. Aleppo residents say about 30,000 people have fled, with many heading deeper into rebel areas and at least 10,000 fleeing to government or Kurdish-held districts.
“There are no other steps to take – it’s over,” said one rebel leader. “A lot of innocent people are going to die, most of them poor. Some may not even know what cause they’re dying for.
