Syrian Coalition Praises the FSA’s Heroic Defense of Aleppo

The Free Syrian Army shelled regime positions in the district of Handarat in northern Aleppo in an attempt to foil regime forces’ attempts to link up with regime positions in the towns of Nibbul and Al Zahraa’. Regime forces retaliated by shelling civilian neighborhoods in the districts of Masaqin Hanano, Kafr Hamra and Al Mallah. Nasr al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, warns of the grave consequences of the inaction in proving support for the Free Syrian Army in the decisive battle against regime forces and ISIS in northern Aleppo. Activists said that regime forces took control of the village of Jubaila, the cement and glass factories near Aleppo Central Prison, thus linking up with regime forces stationed in the towns of Handarat and Sifat in addition to coming closer to the towns of Nibbul and Al Zahraa’. Hariri said that the Assad regime seeks through this advance to break the siege the rebels have laid on regime forces stationed in these two towns and consequently encircling the entire city of Aleppo and areas controlled by the FSA.” Moreover, he expressed astonishment at the insistence of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition to send ground troops to defend the town of Kobane while failing to provide support for the FSA which has fighting on two fronts against the Assad regime and ISIS. It should be noted that the FSA had expelled ISIS from rural Idlib and most of rural Aleppo in early 2014. We call on all FSA battalions in northern Syria to relieve their comrades in northern Aleppo, where battles are raging between the FSA and regime forces backed by Iranian and Hezbollah militias. We also call on the international anti-ISIS coalition to deliver urgent military support for the FSA in northern Aleppo to help it repel the regime’s attempts to encircle the city. (Source: Syrian Coalition)