With the Russian ceasefire in Aleppo having expired over the weekend, the Syrian military is launching a major new offensive against the remaining parts of the city held by the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, making some key gains just south of the city.
The main territory captured was the Bazo hill, which overlooks the southern part of the city and is near multiple military bases. Control of the hilltop allows Syrian military forces to more accurately shell Nusra fighters acting in the surrounding area.
Previous offensives have seen Syrian forces capture central districts from Nusra, and also some areas north of the city. This new move leaves Nusra with less and less breathing room to try to hold their “half” of the city, which is increasingly under siege, and under growing pressure to evacuate.
Aleppo has been contested since 2012, with several different factions entering and leaving during that time, Nusra started pushing into the area earlier this year, and the Syrian military has quickly consolidated the other half, meaning at this point they are the last two standing in the fight over the once great, but now mostly ruined, city.
The key is saving the people. There are all kinds of estimates, so it is impossible to tell. However, by all accounts, there are still around 200,000 left in the ruins — at least. What a nightmare for the population, and in the face of such stone cold indifference from US and all US European allies. They will be sooner or later saved, and at the cost of many lives of Syrian soldiers, and Palestinian, Lebanese and several Iraqi detachments. People inside are without power and with little food, and have problem getting water. They are hiding their sons and daughters in the walls of those ruins, to prevent them being caught and kidnapped by Al-Qaeda. But this is an election season, and neither Democrats nor Republicans want to hear the word Al-Qaeda.
There is probably no more than 50K people left in AQ-occupied East Aleppo, and that includes the Jihadists civilian supporters and enablers.
There is still Raqqa to liberate. Ash Carter has stated that they are now making preparations to cross the Syrian border to attack ISIS there. How they are going to that I don’t know, but what it means is that they are going to make more trouble there for Syria. Probably recruite a ‘Free Syrian Army’ or “moderate rebels” out of the Islamist jihadists so as to keep the war going and frustrate the Syrian army from liberating their own city.