The Siege of Aleppo

James Thorpe

As the Syrian Civil War looks to continue into another calendar year there has been offensives mounted by both government and rebel forces in an attempt to take the city of Allepo. The ending of a ceasefire called by Russian and Syrian government forces has led to renewed bombing efforts by both Syrian government forces on the ground as well as Russian warplanes in the air on Aleppo and the insurgent forces located in the city. The rebels have responded by launching an offensive aiming to break the siege of the city. They initiated the offensive with a string of car bombings, mortar and attacks on the ground in government controlled areas of the city. The offensive started on Friday October 28th and at the time of writing it is believed to be around 15 dead and many more wounded.

A map of the divided city of Aleppo, Syria.

There is an estimated 275,000 civilian noncombatants who are trapped in the rebel controlled areas of the city and are being effected by not only the governments shelling of their neighborhoods but also by the intense firefights that have begun to spring up over the past month as the government looks to reclaim Aleppo block by block. The rebel groups that are being involved in the offensive are groups that have been linked Al-Qaeda in the past which has created justification for Russian bombing campaigns as well as create concern among American intelligence that maybe the most effective fighters on the rebel side have close links to Jihadi groups.

Syrian rebel groups resort to rudimentary artillery equipment

Syrian rebels attempt to setup a mortar controlled by a PlayStation 3 controller

The non-jihadi rebel groups that have been trapped in the siege of Aleppo have said that they cannot afford to turn away potential allies until they receive more in aid and support from the West. The rebel alliance in Aleppo consists of hardline Jihadi groups and also groups that have been vetted and supported by the West. A large amount of the recent fighting in Aleppo has been focused on efforts to retake a supply line in southwest Aleppo that government forces had seized in July but was then retaken by rebels in August only for it to be retaken again in September by government forces. US officials have claimed that Russia and Syria have no real endgame strategy and that they seek to reduce Aleppo to rubble and to leave the city ripe for a surge in extremism. The Syrian Civil War will turn six in 2017 and the end to it does not look on the horizon.

James Thorpe

Aleppo, Syria.