(Zaman Al Wasl)- Key rebel factions fighting regime army and allied militias said to merge in one military group to defend the stricken neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo, local activists said as hundreds have been killed by the regime offensive and and about 250,000 are under imminent extermination.
A rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilize new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-regime militias that sought to advance from the south.
Regime forces backed by Shiite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week.
The rebel official said the outgoing U.S. administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were "trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can't do anything," he said.
The rebels have lost more than a third of the area they held in eastern Aleppo in the last few days of a regime assault that has killed hundreds of people and uprooted thousands more. For the rebels, it is one of the gravest moments of the war.
Rebels meanwhile fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.
The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban center of the revolt against President Bashar Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.
Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.
As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the civil war.
Regime shelling killed 21 civilians, including two children, in an eastern district of Aleppo early Wednesday, a monitoring group said as Damascus and its allies try to build on major gains in the city in recent days.
On Tuesday, the deadly bombing killed at least 29 civilians in Bab al-Nairab neighborhood, Civil Defense said.
Meanwhile, up to 20,000 people have fled regime offensive in rebel-held eastern Aleppo in the last 48 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the Geneva-based ICRC, Krista Armstrong, told AFP that the 20,000 figure was an estimate and that the situation remained fluid, stressing that "people are fleeing in different directions," desperately seeking refuge from the brutal fighting. (With Agencies)
A rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilize new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-regime militias that sought to advance from the south.
Regime forces backed by Shiite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week.
The rebel official said the outgoing U.S. administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were "trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can't do anything," he said.
The rebels have lost more than a third of the area they held in eastern Aleppo in the last few days of a regime assault that has killed hundreds of people and uprooted thousands more. For the rebels, it is one of the gravest moments of the war.
Rebels meanwhile fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.
The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban center of the revolt against President Bashar Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.
Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.
As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the civil war.
Regime shelling killed 21 civilians, including two children, in an eastern district of Aleppo early Wednesday, a monitoring group said as Damascus and its allies try to build on major gains in the city in recent days.
On Tuesday, the deadly bombing killed at least 29 civilians in Bab al-Nairab neighborhood, Civil Defense said.
Meanwhile, up to 20,000 people have fled regime offensive in rebel-held eastern Aleppo in the last 48 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the Geneva-based ICRC, Krista Armstrong, told AFP that the 20,000 figure was an estimate and that the situation remained fluid, stressing that "people are fleeing in different directions," desperately seeking refuge from the brutal fighting. (With Agencies)
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