BATTLE FOR ALEPPO - FSA/REBELS IN HEAVY CLASHES FIGHTING - SYRIA WAR
*DISCLAIMER* This footage is part of an war archive of the war in
Syria and should be viewed as educational. This footage is also to be taken as a raw documentary on the events of the conflict in Syria. This footage is not meant to be violent in any way.
I am only sharing this footage for the purposes of news reporting and educating. I also want to share this footage for: news reporting, sharing important information with the public.
On 31 July, the
Army of Conquest launched a counter-offensive both south and north of
Aleppo in an attempt to lift the siege on the rebel-held areas of the city.
Fierce fighting was reported at the Al-Castillo
Highway,while the rebels managed to capture the Al-Hikma school and two hills on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, which constituted an advanced
Army defense line, after two rebel suicide car-bombers attacked government positions in the Rashidin neighborhood.
The suicide bombings largely destroyed the former school. The wide-scale rebel counter-attack reportedly included 8,000–10,000 fighters, 95 tanks, hundreds of rocket launchers and a large number of suicide-bombers. By evening, the rebels also took control of Al-‘
Amariyah village and reached the nearby 1070 Al-Hamadaniyah
Housing Project where fighting continued. At this
point, the
Russian Air Force started to conduct heavy air-strikes in an attempt to push back the rebel offensive. During the night, the 1070 Al-Hamadaniyah Housing Project was also taken by the rebels. The fighting then shifted to the
Al-Assad Military Academy.
The next morning, government reinforcements arrived at the Al-Assad Military Academy, after which the Army started a counter-attack and reportedly managed to cut the road between the Al-Hikma school and the 1070 Housing Project, leaving the rebels besieged at the Housing area.
By 3 August, the Army counter-attack had recaptured 5 out of 8 positions that were lost since the start of the rebel offensive, including the two villages and two hilltops. The rebels were still in control of one village and four hilltops. By this point, rebel commanders reportedly decided to abandon their pre-planned six-stage offensive to review future military maneuvers in the region, with plans being made for the next attack wave.
On 4 August, the fourth rebel assault was launched, targeting
Ramouseh and Al-‘Amariyah. The rebels once again seized Al-‘Amariyah and its nearby hill, or at least a part of it.
Meanwhile, the Army was still trying to fully recapture the 1070 Housing Project and retake the Al-Hikma school with the support of
Russian air-strikes.
On 5 August, the Army recaptured all of the points they lost the previous day, including Al-‘Amariyah.
Later, a rebel attack on the
Military Academy started, with two suicide car-bombers attacking government positions. The suicide bombings, combined with heavy artillery fire, caused confusion among government forces, creating an opportunity for the rebels to enter the base and capture a part of it. However, heavy air-strikes managed to provide the Army enough time to regroup, push the rebels out of the base and repel the attack. Still, a breach on the southern end of the Military Academy still existed. Meanwhile, government troops managed to take the
Steel Factory after clashes with rebels at the Handarat
Camp.
On 6 August, after a new attack, the rebels took control of the Armament school and most of the
Artillery school, and thus more than half of the Military Academy.
The Artillery school had been used as an artillery base.
Fighting continued at the Air
Technical school, with the rebels eventually being repelled. Shortly after their advances at the Military Academy, rebels both inside and outside Aleppo advanced into the Ramouseh neighborhood, linked up and captured it. With this advance, the rebels managed to cut the government's supply line into the government-held part of west Aleppo and announced the Army's siege of rebel-held east Aleppo had been broken. However, the new rebel supply line was still under Army artillery fire and being hit by air-strikes, making both sides essentially under siege. Since the rebel offensive started, at least 130 civilians had been killed, most by rebel shelling of government-held districts
. 500 fighters on both sides also died, mostly rebels.
At the end of the day, the rebels were in control of the entire Military Academy base, after taking the Air Technical school, and the Ramouseh district, while the Army still held the
Cement Factory and parts of the military housing. The rebels captured a number of armored vehicles and an undisclosed amount of ammunition during the capture of the military academy, as shown on footage on the next day.
Battle of Aleppo continues.
The situation in Aleppo, as of August 6, 2016: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Rif_Aleppo2
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