Offensive reported on key Syrian city of Aleppo
By Raja Abdulrahim June 11, 2013, 1:40 p.m.


Aleppo, Syria, with buildings damaged during recent battles between the rebels and Syrian government forces. (Associated Press / June 6, 2013)

Syrian government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters have begun an offensive near the onceS E N S O Rmercial city of Aleppo to cut off the rebels’ supply line from Turkey and attempt to regain control of the north.

It comes a week after the government and its Lebanese-Shiite allies reclaimed the strategic town of Qusair, near the Lebanese border, from the opposition.

In Aleppo province, the opposition has made steady gains over the last year, controlling about half of Aleppo city and much of the province. Rebel forces claim to be near the end of a battle to seize a military air base near the Turkish border. But government forces have begun a push that could see the province fall back under their control.

State media reported Tuesday that army units beat back "terrorists" in a number of locations in Aleppo city and the countryside. The government refers to the opposition as terrorists. North of Aleppo, soldiers clashed with opposition fighters who attacked military checkpoints near a mountain the government had previously taken control of, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

The rise of Hezbollah fighters in Syria – as well as reports of Shiite fighters from Iran and Iraq – has helped shift the dyanmics of the civil war.

On Monday, the Gulf Cooperation Council, made up of Gulf Arab countries, which have provided the bulk of support for the Syrian opposition, announced that it would levy sanctions against Hezbollah members.
Riyad Al-Islam, an activist with the pro-rebel Aleppo Media Center, said that Hezbollah fighters came to reinforce two pro-government Shiite villages, Nubil and Zahra, on the northern outskirts of Aleppo city and are advancing incrementally in their attempt to seize more territory north of the city.

Cutting off the supply line from Turkey – which brings weapons and humanitarian aid - would make the city and other opposition-held towns more vulnerable to government attacks.

The yellow Hezbollah flag has been flown at checkpoints on the road that runs alongside the two villages and photos of government fighters posted on pro-regime sites show some wearing yellow armbands, Al-Islam said.
sauce http://www.latimes.com/news/world/wo...,5972729.story



Assad advance on rebel bastion of Aleppo threatens peace talks: France
PARIS | Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:13am EDT

(Reuters) - The Syrian opposition will likely boycott proposed peace talks with President Bashar al-Assad's government unless its forces halt their advance towards the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, France said on Wednesday.

Forces loyal to Assad are massing around Aleppo in preparation for an offensive to retake the city and build on battlefield gains that have swung the momentum of Syria's war to Assad and his Hezbollah allies.

"We must stop this advance," Fabius said on France 2 television. "We must stop this because if the balance in the situation on the ground is not restored, then there will not be a conference in Geneva. The opposition won't agree to come."

The United States and Russia are trying to bring Assad's government and his opponents together in Geneva in July, but are still at odds over several issues before the talks can begin.

France is among Western countries including the United States and Britain that say Assad has lost his legitimacy as Syria's ruler, although they have shied away from arming the rebels for fear of bringing Islamist Jihadists to power.

"For the soldiers of the resistance, they must have weapons because Assad has planes, powerful weapons and has used chemical weapons. We shouldn't arm them for the sake of arming them, but there has to be a rebalancing," Fabius said.

He said Paris would respect an EU agreement not to arm rebels before August 1, but said that he had spoken to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday on the issue.

"Nobody is talking about sending troops on the ground, but the resistance fighters must be able to defend themselves," he said.

(Reporting By John Irish and Chine Labbe; Editing by Jon Boyle)
sauce http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95B05O20130612

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dari berita di atas menyatakan posisi pasukan assad dan hisbullah diperkuat di sekitar kota aleppo untuk besiege posisi rebel
dan serangan pembuka juga mulai dilakukan untuk memutus pasokan rebel dari arah turki
seberapa masif kekuatan rezim dan hisbullah masih belom bisa diprediksi tapi dari tuntutan rebel yg memasukkan syarat mundurnya pasukan rezim dari aleppo untuk negosiasi di jenewa bisa diperkirakan jumlahnya cukup signifikan

akankah aleppo akan jatuh ke rezim assad atokah rebel akan sanggup bertahan ... to be continued