Fierce Fighting in Syria’s Aleppo: Conflicting Claims of Victory

Nusra Front Claims to Have Expelled Troops Advancing Into Central District

Heavy fighting was reported throughout the day in central and northern Aleppo, capping a week that has seen some of the deadliest fighting of the entire civil war, as the Syrian military aims to reclaim the eastern half of the city from the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Earlier in the week Syrian military forces captured a central district, and also some territory on the northern outskirts of the city. Exactly what was accomplished today remains a matter of debate, as both sides have issued conflicting claims of victory.

Most of today’s fighting centered on the district of Suleiman al-Halabi, near the district taken earlier this week in central Aleppo. Government forces claimed to have made substantial progress, but the Nusra Front claimed that they had expelled the troops by evening.

Both sides also traded blame for a strike which hit a water station in the district, with Nusra claiming an airstrike, but the Syrian government claiming rebel shelling. The military claimed Nusra shelling also killed some 15 civilians in the al-Midan District.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.