Rebel forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad announced that they have broken a month-long siege of Eastern Aleppo by government forces. Following the victory against government forces, Syrian rebel alliance The Army of Conquest has announced that it has begun an offensive to capture the entire city.
Rebel positions were threatened in July when the government forces captured Castello Road, the only major passage for supplies and reinforcements into the rebel-held eastern part of the city. Since the rebels broke the government siege and captured a number of pro-Assad military bases in their latest counterattack, civilians in the area are reported to have received some basic supplies; but continuing skirmishes and aerial bombardments make sustained aid an impossibility. With the rebel advance towards the government-held areas of the city, “the total number of civilians living in de facto fear of besiegement to over two million” according to a news report by the United Nations.
The organization has called for an immediate truce between all parties on Monday, warning that “consequences will be dire for millions of civilians if the electricity and water networks are not immediately repaired”
Aleppo was the Syria’s largest city before the beginning of the country’s civil war, and has been contested territory since 2012. While much of it has been destroyed in the fighting since then, control of the city remains an important psychological and logistical goal for government and rebel forces alike. Al Jazeera reporter Reza Sayah has noted that “The battle for Aleppo is decisive. Whoever wins the battle could perhaps win the war. For the rebels, keeping hold of Aleppo is leverage – it’s a bargaining chip that they could use to perhaps force the Syrian government back to the negotiating table in Geneva.”