How Russia is helping Assad slaughter civilians in Aleppo
The Russia-lovers in Trumpland need to be asked to comment on this.
A withdrawal agreement allowed thousands of rebels and civilians to evacuate — but not before Assad’s forces massacred and tortured an unknown number of people…
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After Syria’s 2011 Arab Spring protests descended into civil war, Aleppo became a key base for a number of different rebel factions opposed to the Assad regime. In the summer of 2015, the rebel presence there was solid. In fact, Assad was widely understood to be losing ground around the country — and possibly his grip on power.
In response, his international patrons — Russia and Iran — began increasing their support last fall. Russia sent warplanes, attack helicopters, artillery pieces, and significant numbers of military advisers. Iran sent in paramilitary operatives and battle-hardened fighters from Hezbollah, its Lebanon-based proxy.
This support turned the tide…
“The operations in Aleppo Province have hinged upon heavy military support from both Russian warplanes and Iranian proxy fighters,” Christopher Kozak, a research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, wrote at the time…
Whether it was starvation or nonstop bombardment from Russian and Syrian warplanes, rebel defenses gradually collapsed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-regime NGO, estimated that Assad’s forces had taken 90 percent of rebel holdings in eastern Aleppo by December 12. The rest of the city fell shortly thereafter — and now the consequences are on display, for all the world to see.
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