Baladi News –Rani Jaber
After long procrastination, the Syrian regime has finally accepted to add Aleppo the “calm”-covered areas. Rebel sources attribute this acceptance to the fact that the regime wants to utilize this 48 hours ceasefire to pursue its preparations for the battle of Aleppo by mobilizing more troops, carry out a broader reconnaissance of the rebels’ locations, and learn about the rebels’ preparations to repel the anticipated attack.
What supports this conclusion, according to the rebels, is a number of operations conducted by the regime against some vital areas in Aleppo, including Salah Al-din, Masharqa, and Bustan Al-Qasr. Through such operations, the regime seeks to “feel the pulse” of the rebel forces in order to teardown their defense lines, which would allow it to surround them and isolate their quarters. After that, the regime would focus on cutting off military supplies to these regions in an attempt to occupy them, repeating a similar scenario to the battle of Grozny in the 1990s.
To avoid such a scenario, military analysists recommend the rebels to take the initiative and attack several fronts of the regime forces as well as its supporting militias. The ideal targets for such attacks would be the supply routes of the regime, particularly the vital Khanaser Road. Due to the strategic importance of this road as the only supply route of the regime forces in Aleppo, controlling it by the rebels would force the regime to send large numbers of its troops to retake, which would mitigate the pressure on Aleppo.
Strategic analysts indicate that the battle for Aleppo is a very critical one in the 5-years Syrian ware because the winner would have the upper hand in the strategically and martially important northern Syria.