Al-Qaeda Held Aleppo Districts Ready for ‘Months of Siege’

With the loss of Castello Road, the last supply route into the area, al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front is facing a siege situation in their half of the north Syrian city of Aleppo, though officials affiliated with the Nusra-led faction suggest they foresaw this and stockpiled substantially before the road fell.

The rebel officials are now saying that they have enough basic supplies for “months of siege” against their half of Aleppo, though they continue to try, and fail, to recover Castello or any other reliable supply line into the city.

Nusra began taking areas around Aleppo in February, when they were excluded from the nationwide ceasefire. The fighting has left them with half the city and some villages not far away, though the stalemate has seen them trade shelling with the military into the city, causing large civilian casualties for months on end.

For locals, the siege situation is likely to make the situation even worse, with supplies for civilians in short supply in most places around the country, and neither al-Qaeda nor the Syrian military shy about striking residential neighborhoods.