US-backed rebels attacked – for the first time – the Syrian Army positions in Handarat Refugee Camp in northeast Aleppo with barrages of BM-21 missiles (Grad) using rocket launchers they had obtained earlier.

A pro-rebel Twitter account released a video showing a group of the West-backed FSA fighters unloading the missiles and then firing them using rocket launchers.

https://twitter.com/Bani_Omaia/status/780882113860104192

In the same context, Reuters quoted a rebel commander who confirmed that some Western countries have recently provided (for the first time) the FSA-affiliated factions in Syria with ‘excellent quantities’ of advanced rocket launchers to defy a Russia-backed, wide-scale offensive against rebel forces in eastern Aleppo.

“The Grad launchers have a range of 22-40 km, and will be extensively used in the battles against regime forces in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia”, said Col. Faris al-Bayoush, a military rebel commander and former Syrian Army officer.

Battles in both Aleppo and Hama significantly escalated since the US-Russia brokered ceasefire has crumbled.

Earlier, Gulf states, backing Syrian opposition, threatened to supply its proxies with anti-aircraft missiles to defend themselves against Syrian and Russian warplanes.