Updated on
Summary Opposition fighters have appealed world community to come to their aid as troops enter Aleppo.
Why doesnt the government of your country do anything to help us? Abu Ahmed, a fighter with the Shuhada al-Atareb (Martyrs of Atareb) Battalion in the rebel-held southern district of Sukari, pleaded with an AFP photographer.In Libya, they helped get rid of (now slain dictator Moamer) Kadhafi, but here in Syria they leave us to die, said the fighter, whose group is named after the town of Atareb in Aleppo province, the scene of major fighting in the 17-month conflict.All communications have been cut in Aleppo, the AFP photographer said, raising fears of a major assault on the northern metropolis whose fate is seen as pivotal in determining the outcome of the increasingly brutal conflict.Abu Ahmed called for a no-fly zone to protect against air attacks by government forces, which activists say have often fired from warplanes on Aleppo in a bid to wrest the northern city from rebel hands.The Syrian National Council, the opposition umbrella group, also called Monday for such zones near the borders with Turkey and Jordan, along the lines of those established in Libya during the conflict against Kadhafis regime.The NATO campaign in Libya, which was authorised by the United Nations, played a key role in helping rebels bring down Kadhafi, but it left a deep rift in the UN Security Council.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army had advanced Monday into the rebel-held area of Saif al-Dawla, days after it seized control of the neighbouring district of Salaheddin.With tanks, Syrias regime forces have stormed the west of the district of Saif al-Dawla, it said. They are now clashing with the rebels, and parts of Salaheddin are being shelled.Control of Salehidden and other districts in Aleppos southern belt are key to securing the supply routes from Damascus, while much of the countryside to the north towards Turkey is in rebel hands.A Russian-made MiG fighter jet was seen swooping low over the city, firing on some areas, the AFP correspondent said.Rebels said there had been attacks by MiG jets and helicopters, and shelling of Sukari but no street fighting was reported.Fierce battles have raged since July 20 in Aleppo, which had previously been largely spared the violence that rocked many other parts of country.Rebels in July took over several districts, particularly in the citys southern belt, but regime forces stormed and reclaimed most of the neighbourhood of Salaheddin last week.Security sources and the Observatory said government troops had also seized the district of Mashhad on Sunday, setting the scene for a possible major confrontation in neighbouring Sukari.Rebels and troops have continued to clash in several areas of the city, the countrys commercial capital, since the Free Syrian Army was forced to retreat from most of Salaheddin last week.In Salaheddin, a group of fighters stood peering around the wall outside a mosque, claiming to have taken two army sniper positions.People scattered as a tank rumbled through, the AFP photographer reported. One fighter armed with the groups only rocket-propelled grenade launcher took up position ready to fire but never got the opportunity.The tank pounded a building and 15 minutes later three fighters emerged, covered in white plaster dust. They are uninjured.In Qadi Askar district in the heart of Aleppo, around 100 people were queuing for bread at a bakery controlled by the Free Syrian Army -- men on one side of the street and black-clad women lining up at another window.The FSA are policing the bakeries in the areas they control to keep order, with bread in short supply.
