- Offensive by Syrian rebels challenges Assad siege of Aleppo
- Military success in Syria gives Putin the upper hand
A coalition of Syrian rebels have broken the siege of Aleppo, creating a route into the besieged city by taking an artillery school held by Assad regime troops and allied militias. The Guardian reports that rebel groups temporarily set aside rounds of infighting to marshal resources for the push to retake the city, which Syrian military forces, backed by Russian airpower and Iranian support on the ground, had managed to encircle. Some analysts, however, fear that Western and particularly American abstention from the attempt to break the siege has handed a political victory to the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's one-time (ahem) franchise in Syria which participated in the fighting. For the first time since Afghanistan in the 1980s, the Russian military for the past year has been in direct combat with rebel forces trained and supplied by the C.I.A. The American-supplied Afghan fighters prevailed during that Cold War conflict. But this time the outcome — thus far — has been different….Russia’s battlefield successes in Syria have given Moscow, isolated by the West after its annexation of Crimea and other incursions into Ukraine, new leverage in decisions about the future of the Middle East. – New York Times
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2024
Categories |