Syrians flee as rebels plan counter-attack

Updated

Rebels in the Syrian city of Aleppo are appealing for anti-aircraft weapons after weeks of being targeted by government air power.

The plea for help comes as residents use a rare lull in fighting to try and escape the town.

The rebels were pushed back from the Salaheddin district on Thursday by troops seeking to re-establish control over Syria's largest city.

Rebel commanders say the lack of anti-aircraft weapons is a big part of the reason they had pull out of the key district in Aleppo.

After a halt in the fighting, government forces are once again reported to be hitting rebel positions from the air.

Random shooting echoed from inside Salaheddin, that controls access to Aleppo from the south, and an unmanned drone aircraft buzzed directly overhead.

Some residents of the shattered neighbourhood slipped back to try to salvage possessions, despite army snipers lurking there.

Two civilians were hit by gunfire in nearby streets.

One, apparently shot in the buttocks, was dragged off the street by rebels and treated by medics before being taken to a field clinic. A second man was wounded in the back and arm.

Blood soaked through the sleeve of his yellow jacket and his face was contorted in pain as rescuers put him in a vehicle.

Syrian rebels are promising a counter-attack to regain the lost ground.

"I have about 60 men positioned strategically at the frontline and we are preparing a new attack today," said Abu Jamil, a rebel commander, saying sniper fire in Salaheddin had prevented his men from retrieving a comrade's body for two days.

Britain has announced another $7 million in aid for Syria's opposition.

London calls the aid non-lethal and says it includes communications equipment, body armour and medical supplies.

Robert Danin, a senior fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the US is headed towards intervention.

"We are now involved on the ground, we are now providing logistical support," he told PM.

"Yesterday, I think it was [US presidential advisor John Brennan who said] no options are off the table. They are talking about considerations towards no-fly zone or perhaps some sort of sanctuary."

But Mr Danin argues that the US should be cautious about military intervention.

"Those who are calling for us to provide sophisticated arms to the Syrian rebels have to really think twice," he said.

"It seems to me one of two things will happen. Either there'll be some horrific massacre, heaven forbid, the force of which will compel action out of shame and the sense that something has to be done.

"Or otherwise some sort of change on the ground will take place that will provide the opportunity for real change."

Both Mr Danin and his colleague, Middle East fellow Ed Husain, agree that the US should continue to support diplomatic moves to end the conflict.

Mr Husain, says it is encouraging to see that the Free Syrian Army has signed a human rights code of conduct.

"That's a first from the Free Syrian Army and that's their way of saying that they acknowledge that they've been involved in human right violations," he said.

"Essentially it's a conflict with the Syrian people and themselves in a way that they see appropriate, while assuring the rest of the international community that they're not going to be violating human rights."

Meanwhile diplomatic sources say former Algerian foreign minister, Lakhdar Brahimi, is expected to become the new United Nations and Arab League peace envoy to Syria.

Former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, resigned from the position last week, saying it was "impossible" for him to succeed in his role until both sides wanted peace.

Mr Brahimi, 78, has been around the diplomatic scene in the Middle East long enough to have been part of the negotiations that ended the bloody and protracted civil war in Lebanon that started in the 1970s and lasted 16 years.

ABC/wires

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, syrian-arab-republic, united-states

First posted