![]() In the past few days, pro-government forces have signaled that they are escalating efforts to press the tactics to their conclusion in Aleppo, step by step. The tactics have succeeded in much smaller areas: in encircled suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and in rebel enclaves in the central city of Homs - first in the historic Old City and, most recently, last week, in the outlying neighborhood of Waer. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, warned on Sunday, speaking at an emergency Security Council session on Syria, in which outright confrontation replaced any effort to find diplomatic common ground.Įast Aleppo would be by far the biggest and most fortified area that government forces had sought to retake with scorched-earth tactics of siege and bombardment - called "starve-or-submit," after slogans scrawled outside besieged areas by pro-government militiamen. But it could pale in comparison with a military assault to retake all of Aleppo, once Syria's largest city and still home to about 2 million people, roughly 250,000 of them in rebel-held territory.Ī takeover battle could mean "a slow, grinding, street-by-street fight, over the course of months, if not years," the U.N. The killing and destruction in Syria, of course, has stupefied much of the world during the past five years. It is a strategy that both the Syrian government and its Russian allies have long embraced to subdue Syrian rebels, largely by crushing the civilian populations that support them.īut in the past few days, as hopes for a revived cease-fire have disintegrated at the United Nations, the Syrians and Russians seem to be mobilizing to apply this kill-all-who-resist strategy to the most ambitious target yet: the rebel-held sections of the divided metropolis of Aleppo. Repeat until a deserted cityscape is yours. Open an escape route, or offer a deal to those who leave or surrender. (Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)īEIRUT - Make life intolerable and death likely. Men inspect the damage after an airstrike on the rebel held al-Qaterji neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria September 25, 2016. Updated: SeptemPublished: September 26, 2016
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |