Aleppo ‘Decisive Attack’ Underway as Putin Says West Encouraging Syria Chaos
Aleppo ‘Decisive Attack’ Underway as Putin Says West Encouraging Syria Chaos
Syrian rebels announced ‘decisive attack’ in Aleppo on Thursday as Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of pursuing policies that had destabilized states in the Arab world and now risked creating chaos in Syria.
Several thousand Syrian rebels on Thursday afternoon launched what they said would be a decisive battle for control of the strategic northern city of Aleppo.
“Tonight, Aleppo will be ours or we will be defeated,” Abu Furat, a rebel commander, told AFP.
Separately, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of rebels grouping in schools in the city’s northern Izaa quarter and firing mortars.
Aleppo has been the scene of fierce fighting since July, when rebels launched an offensive to capture commercial capital.
After some early successes, the rebel campaign slowed because of a shortage of ammunition.
As many as 109 people have been killed on Thursday by the fire of Syrian forces across the country, Al Arabiya reported citing activists at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Meanwhile, news agencies quoted Putin as saying that “the most important thing is that our partners cannot stop themselves.” He made the comment at his local Moscow residence at a meeting with local residents of the Ryazan region in central Russia.
“They have already created a situation of chaos in many territories and are now continuing the same policy in other countries — including Syria,” said Putin, according to Reuters.