Syria rebels battle regime in Aleppo operation

Syria rebels battle regime in Aleppo operation

BEIRUT - Two coalitions of Syrian rebels battled to advance in government-held western Aleppo on Saturday, seizing an army barracks in one district but being pushed back in others.

Rebel fighters walk on the rubble of destroyed buildings at a former research centre being used as a military barracks after they captured the complex, on July 4, 2015, on the western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria

The fighting in the country's former economic powerhouse is some of the fiercest since the Syrian conflict arrived in the northern city in mid-2012.

The Islamic State group, meanwhile, released a video showing teenage members executing 25 Syrian soldiers in an amphitheatre in the ancient ruins of Palmyra.

And government forces launched a major operation to recapture Zabadani, the last opposition-held town in the Qalamun region near Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes in several parts of western Aleppo.

It said fighters from the Conquest of Aleppo alliance of mostly moderate forces had captured a former research centre being used as a military barracks, opening up lines of attack against several nearby regime-held districts.

On Saturday, fierce clashes raged around the complex as regime forces backed by air strikes sought to recapture it.

Conquest of Aleppo and a second rebel grouping, Ansar al-Sharia which is dominated by Islamists and Al-Qaeda's local affiliate Al-Nusra Front, began operations against government-held districts of Aleppo this week.

The attacks have prompted heavy fighting and bombardments, with rebels firing hundreds of rockets and the government launching dozens of air strikes.

The assault began on Thursday, when Ansar al-Sharia attacked several neighbourhoods including Zahra, where an air force intelligence facility is based.

The coalition initially made progress, but was pushed back by government forces and heavy air strikes that killed 29 rebels on Friday night, the Observatory said.

- First progress since 2013 -

Thomas Pierret, a professor at the University of Edinburgh and a Syria expert, said the latest fighting could prove significant.

The recent rebel progress in and around western Aleppo "is the first real progress by the rebels in Aleppo since... July 2013," he told AFP.

Control of the city has been largely divided between the government in the west and rebels in the east since shortly after fighting began there three years ago.

Front lines have remained fairly static since then, though both sides have at times sought to encircle the other by advancing in the countryside around the city.

Pierret said the loss of the barracks left the regime's hold on west Aleppo "more vulnerable".

But he said progress would not be easy for the rebels because the city's tall buildings are ideal for regime snipers and its avenues are wide enough for government tanks.

The Islamic State group on Saturday released a video showing the execution of 25 Syrian soldiers in the ancient amphitheatre in the city of Palmyra.

The executions had already been reported shortly after IS seized the city on May 21, and were some of the more than 200 executions it carried out in the area around that time.

The video showed young boys and teenagers shooting the kneeling soldiers dead in front of a large IS black-and-white flag, as a crowd of men and some children watched.

- Regime fights for Zabadani -

In the Qalamun region meanwhile, government forces backed by Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah began a battle to capture the last rebel-held town in the area north of Damascus on the Lebanese border.

"Army units supported by the Lebanese resistance this morning launched a major operation in the Zabadani region in Damascus province," Syrian state television announced.

The Observatory confirmed heavy fighting was under way between regime forces and their allies and rebels in the area of Zabadani, which was one of the first towns to fall to the opposition in 2012.

It said at least 22 barrel bombs were dropped on the town and its surroundings on Saturday alone, but had no immediate toll.

The battle was announced a day after rebels attacked an army outpost at the entrance to the town, which the regime responded to with some 90 air raids using barrel bombs and missiles.

Regime troops backed by Hezbollah have also recaptured most of the Qalamun region, which was once an opposition bastion.

In addition to Zabadani, opposition forces have bases in the mountainous part of Qalamun that spans the border, but Hezbollah has been gradually advancing in that region in recent weeks.

In nearby Damascus, rebel fire killed at least one person and wounded nine, the official SANA news agency said.

Local residents said one of the rockets hit near the well-known Damas Rose Hotel, blowing out some of its windows but causing little damage otherwise.

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