Syrian Government, Rebel Forces Fight Fierce Battles in Aleppo and Idlib

“Syrian government forces and rebel groups fought fierce battles Sunday in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib,” the Daily Star reports.

Government troops pushed forward with their effort to capture the Handarat hill, which would allow them to control the rebels’ main supply line from Turkey into the city of Aleppo.

Rami Abdurraham of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that regime forces are inching closer to a complete siege of rebel-held areas of Aleppo, after they seized territory in the strategic Mallah farms area near Handarat, north of Aleppo.

The battle comes as U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura and his deputy, Ramzi Ezzeddine Ramzi, continue their efforts to negotiate a freeze in fighting in Aleppo, which has been divided between rebels and regime forces for more than two years.

Meanwhile, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham launched a two-pronged offensive against the Wadi Dief and Hamidieh military bases outside the town of Maaret al-Numan in Syria’s Idlib province. They succeeded in “seizing at least three government checkpoints near two military bases,” the BBC reports.

Syrian Rebels Kill Over 300 Civilians Using ‘Hell Cannons’

Syrian rebel groups killed over 300 civilians using “hell cannons,” or improvised mortar bombs made of cooking gas canisters, between July and December of this year, Reuters reports.

The majority of the deaths were in the northern city of Aleppo where rebels have used the improvised weapons to fire on regime-held territory of the city.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 42 children and 25 women were counted among the dead in Syria’s second largest city, while more than 700 people were wounded.

U.N. Still Struggling to Move Aid into Syria

The U.N. is still struggling to move aid into Syria despite the unprecedented decision in July to deliver humanitarian assistance without government approval.

The resolution, which currently allows the U.N. to deliver aid through four border crossings (two in Turkey, one in Jordan and one in Iraq), was approved for six months and is set to expire on Jan 9. U.N. diplomats say they hope to vote on renewing it for a full year next week.

The U.N. had said that the four border crossings would give it access to 2.9 million people; however, so far, the number of people reached is in the hundreds of thousands.

According to aid officials who spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity, one of the reasons aid is hard to deliver is because armed militant groups control roads from the warehouse and have been known to steal and resell the aid. Hospitals and ambulances are also subject to bombing, and shipments are stopped before they even reach their destinations.

“While some progress has been made, over 12 million people still urgently need help,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last month. “Nearly 5 million of them live in areas that remain hard to reach despite the additional access granted through Resolution 2165, and only a portion are receiving humanitarian assistance.”

Recommended Reads:

• CBS: How a Four-Year-Old Navigates Snipers in Syria
• CNN: Syrian Wins Song Contest Based on ‘American Idol,’ Declines to Wear Flag
• Daily Star: Syria Fighting Heats Up in Aleppo, Idlib
• Guardian: French Raids Target Alleged Syria Jihadist Network
• New York Times: Still Failing Syria’s Refugees
• Newsweek: The Syrian Conflict According to Putin
• New York Times: Syrian Refugees, Once Stuck. Enter Jordan
• Huffington Post: ‘My Hopes Evaporate and the Bitter Reality Remains’: Abducted in Syria

Photo Courtesy of AP Images