Shi’ite checkpoints become remarkably widespread in Aleppo

The checkpoints of Shi’ite Militias have become remarkably widespread in regime-held areas of Aleppo amid decreasing for presence of Assad's forces, Zaman Alwasl reporter said.

They wear black costumes with green and red bands, inscribed with sectarian slogans, their most appeared in al-Jamiliya neighborhood one of most powerful Assad’s strongholds, the reporter said. 

Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and most populous city before the uprising against Assad erupted in 2011, has been witnessing heavy fighting since Assad's forces, backed by Shi'ite militia from Iran, Iraq and the Lebanese party Hezbollah.

The militias have helped Assad to turn the tide against the Sunni Muslim rebels, whose ranks are increasingly dominated by Islamist fighters and al Qaeda-linked foreign jihadists, especially in Aleppo countryside.

"In the last few months Assad has been increasingly leaving the fighting in the urban areas, especially Damascus and its environs, to his Shi'ite allies," a Middle East security official said to Reuters.

Hezbollah and its patron Iran do not comment on their operations in Syria.

An estimated 126,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by Syria's war, which erupted after a fierce regime crackdown on pro-democracy protests first held in March 2011.

Editing by Redha Ali