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IN SYRIA, REBEL ATTACKS IN THE NORTH REFLECT A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT CHANGES
PATRICK COCKBURN
Thursday 17 April 2014
The intra-rebel civil war has ebbed in these areas, allowing opposition
fighters to resume their war with government forces
The Syrian government is eliminating the last rebel strongholds in
the centre of the country along the crucial road linking Damascus
to Homs and to Tartous on the coast. These areas have always been
essential for it to maintain its grip on power.
At the same time, the rebels have launched offensives from places
where they have strength, notably against Latakia province just south
of the Turkish border and West Aleppo, which is a government bastion
that has been under attack since 3 April. Rebel-held parts of Aleppo,
most of whose inhabitants have fled, are being pounded by barrel
bombs dropped by helicopters while rebels have been firing rockets
and shells into the government controlled west of the city.
Homs was once the centre of the popular uprising in 2011 but opposition
fighters now hold only some of the ruins in the old city.
Many of its remaining inhabitants left under UN auspices in February,
but a core of militant fighters stayed behind. Other rebel held areas
in Homs have fallen and hundreds of thousands of Sunni have fed into
al-Waer district in the west of the city which sealed off by the
Syrian army.
In some parts of Homs life continues as normal though there were two
recent car bombings inflicting heavy casualties. Other fought-over
neighbourhoods have become 'ghost districts' and are uninhabited,
their old population having fled to Lebanon or Tartous. The army has
been systematically sealing off and capturing opposition enclaves in
western Homs province such as that around the Crusader fortress of
Krak des Chevaliers.
The main government effort at the moment is to clear the Qalamoun
mountain region west of the main road linking Damascus and Homs and
along the Lebanese border. Yabroud, long a rebel base, was captured
after heavy fighting and in the last few days the army has taken the
ancient Christian village of Maaloula. The last rebel strongpoint
still holding out is Zabadani on the Lebanese border. In these
battles fighters from the Lebanese paramilitary movement Hezbollah
are acting as highly effective assault troops. They have also been
committed in Aleppo this month to stop the rebel attacks underlining
the government's lack of combat-ready troops.
The rebel attacks in the north reflect a number of important changes.
The intra-rebel civil war in which the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIS) has been fighting other groups has ebbed in these
areas (though not on the Iraqi border). This allows the opposition
fighters to resume their war with government forces. In this part of
Syria they have the advantage of an open 500-mile long Turkish border
across which they can advance and retreat.
A further feature of recent fighting is that the opposition side has
been led by Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qa'ida, and
by other jihadi groups. In Latakia, the surprise attack on government
positions was reportedly led by Chechen and Moroccan fighters who were
initially able to break into an Alawite area where the government is
strongly supported, as well as the Armenian village of Kassab.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/in-syria-rebel-attacks-in-the-north-reflect-a-number-of-important-changes-9268243.html
PATRICK COCKBURN
Thursday 17 April 2014
The intra-rebel civil war has ebbed in these areas, allowing opposition
fighters to resume their war with government forces
The Syrian government is eliminating the last rebel strongholds in
the centre of the country along the crucial road linking Damascus
to Homs and to Tartous on the coast. These areas have always been
essential for it to maintain its grip on power.
At the same time, the rebels have launched offensives from places
where they have strength, notably against Latakia province just south
of the Turkish border and West Aleppo, which is a government bastion
that has been under attack since 3 April. Rebel-held parts of Aleppo,
most of whose inhabitants have fled, are being pounded by barrel
bombs dropped by helicopters while rebels have been firing rockets
and shells into the government controlled west of the city.
Homs was once the centre of the popular uprising in 2011 but opposition
fighters now hold only some of the ruins in the old city.
Many of its remaining inhabitants left under UN auspices in February,
but a core of militant fighters stayed behind. Other rebel held areas
in Homs have fallen and hundreds of thousands of Sunni have fed into
al-Waer district in the west of the city which sealed off by the
Syrian army.
In some parts of Homs life continues as normal though there were two
recent car bombings inflicting heavy casualties. Other fought-over
neighbourhoods have become 'ghost districts' and are uninhabited,
their old population having fled to Lebanon or Tartous. The army has
been systematically sealing off and capturing opposition enclaves in
western Homs province such as that around the Crusader fortress of
Krak des Chevaliers.
The main government effort at the moment is to clear the Qalamoun
mountain region west of the main road linking Damascus and Homs and
along the Lebanese border. Yabroud, long a rebel base, was captured
after heavy fighting and in the last few days the army has taken the
ancient Christian village of Maaloula. The last rebel strongpoint
still holding out is Zabadani on the Lebanese border. In these
battles fighters from the Lebanese paramilitary movement Hezbollah
are acting as highly effective assault troops. They have also been
committed in Aleppo this month to stop the rebel attacks underlining
the government's lack of combat-ready troops.
The rebel attacks in the north reflect a number of important changes.
The intra-rebel civil war in which the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIS) has been fighting other groups has ebbed in these
areas (though not on the Iraqi border). This allows the opposition
fighters to resume their war with government forces. In this part of
Syria they have the advantage of an open 500-mile long Turkish border
across which they can advance and retreat.
A further feature of recent fighting is that the opposition side has
been led by Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qa'ida, and
by other jihadi groups. In Latakia, the surprise attack on government
positions was reportedly led by Chechen and Moroccan fighters who were
initially able to break into an Alawite area where the government is
strongly supported, as well as the Armenian village of Kassab.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/in-syria-rebel-attacks-in-the-north-reflect-a-number-of-important-changes-9268243.html