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A REBEL ASSAULT to break the siege of Aleppo slowed today amid fierce resistance from regime forces, as the UN said it was “appalled” by civilian deaths.
Rebels launched a major assault on Friday, backed by car bombs and salvos of rockets, to break through government lines and reach the 250,000 people besieged in the city’s east.
Aleppo has been hit by some of the worst violence in Syria’s five-year conflict, turning the once-bustling economic hub into a divided and bombed-out symbol of the brutal war.
Since Friday, opposition factions allied with jihadists have amassed on Aleppo’s western outskirts in a bid to end the regime’s three-month encirclement of the city’s eastern districts.
While they scored an initial advance, the offensive has since slowed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor.
“Since Sunday, the regime has been taking the initiative and the clashes are less intense,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said on this afternoon.
Regime
“The only thing that has been accomplished is partial control over Dahiyet al-Assad,” a neighbourhood on Aleppo’s western outskirts that rebels entered on Friday, he said.
Regime and Russian air strikes were hitting the battlefronts on the city’s edges, but with less intensity than in previous days.
“The momentum of the rebel offensive slowed after failing to take control of the ’3000′ apartment block and the military complex,” a pro-regime military source said, referring to two built-up areas southwest of Aleppo.
Civilian toll rises
In a new toll on this afternoon, the Observatory said a total of 61 regime fighters and allied militiamen were killed in the assault, as well as 72 Syrian rebels.
Heavy rebel rocket fire since Friday has killed 48 civilians, including 17 children, the monitor said.
Syria’s state news agency SANA said three civilians were killed in rebel fire today.
In a statement, the army gave a toll of 84 people killed in three days, “mostly women and children,” repeating allegations that rebels had fired shells containing chlorine gas on western Aleppo.
UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Sunday he was “appalled and shocked by the high number of rockets” fired by rebels.
“Those who argue that this is meant to relieve the siege of eastern Aleppo should be reminded that nothing justifies the use of disproportionate and indiscriminate weapons, including heavy ones, on civilian areas and it could amount to war crimes,” he said.
“Civilians of both sides of Aleppo have suffered enough due to futile but lethal attempts of subduing the city,” he added.
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This is great! We’ll be able to watch live as these snakes sell this country out from under us and sell it’s people into slavery.
Ah damn. Was hoping to be the first to post one of these tired, overposted comments.
The Oireachtas has been available to watch on the Net for a few years now. So for those who can’t wait for a channel to appear on Saorview,
http://www.oireachtas.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/livewebcast/Web-Live.htm&CatID=83&m=o
Dáilafornia.
Dail-less da da da da da da da Starring Enda Kenny as Useless Smarmy, Eamon Gilmore as the invisible man, Bruton as Jobless, Burton As Social Neglect, Reilly as Death, Noonan as Scrooge, Hogan as Cat Burglar, etc etc etc
WOW, televised empty seats.
What, empty seats?! Surely the amount they claim in expenses for travel and overnight must mean their there all the time…
Who will watch it ? Hey here is a plan …. Why not pipe it into all classrooms in the country …
I think Eileen that could be classified as Child Abuse if it were to happen.I love my kids too much to have them subjected to constant lies and bullshit.
wouldn’t we want our students to be engaged and learning Eileen rather than bored asleep????? Think of the children lolololol ;-)
:) :) :) Lol ,Lol,
I am glad we all still have a sense of humpr :)
i did not know there was such a dedicated T.V. channel what have i been missing here lol
Who in their right mind would want to watch this bunch of sneering,smirking assholes.Ni difference between any of them.All greedy in it for themselves assholes.Here ends my rant.
PEOPLE, ISN’T OIREACHTAS REPORT ENOUGH ?
what are we going to watch. the Dail is never in session. it’ll be reruns of bertie, brian, charlie and all the other crooks over the years.
Good God..how much will.this crap cost! Is there noone to say STOP! Our public services at frontline are creaking…our young and not so young are fleeing faster than.the anfield cat and our gloruous leaders want to have their own tv channel….i feel.like yer boy on.Harry Enfield…NO!!!
It will lead to greater public scrutiny of the goings on in the Oireachtas, surely that can only be a good thing? In light of what went on in there that “brought us to our knees” and lead to the “current economic climate” and “[insert horrendously overused cliché to describe the late-2000s recession here]“, “bankers”, “bondholders”, “Merkozy”, “WAKE UP PEOPLE” and so forth.
Sorry Muc all decisions happen in committee and private cabinet meetings never ever in front of cameras and never will.
No, all the legislation is debated and voted upon in the Dáil. Pretty fundamental stuff there Norman.
Muc the recent debate in the Dail reference the internet copyright act decision already taken before debate.
That was a statutory instrument, it wasn’t required. Debate happened in spite of that. Actual legislation has to be passed by the Dáil, as is the case in most parliamentary democracies/representative republics.
If you have kids in secondary school, pick up one of their CSPE books and learn the law-making process, separation of powers and the general basics of how a state functions before you go on ill-informed, cynical rants about the government. It’s really not that complicated
Ah yes I can see it now celebrity T D
Celebrity Minister Lotto draw to see what patients get seen this week probably hosted by some tallaght tv air head.
Jesus is there no end to this waste
Maybe KPMG could stand over the debates and say if they’re impartial.
You realise that this expansion is only been suggested so these useless twats in the Seanad can keep/justify their jobs!
A business plan! There’s no money in it. This is exactly what the national public service broadcaster should be doing – Hello RTE? BBC Parliament is the model but they want to waste cash on a tender to advise? Just tell RTE to do it – they’ve loads of spare capacity on the white elephant that is Saorview – they’d be able to claim a whole EIGHT channels then!
How much will the special consultants for makeup and hair cost us?
Don’t forget photography…
if the Gov are serious about this isn’t there a state broadcaster that could do it at very little cost?
But again – who would watch it? It’s so tedious – that’s why they show that political show on RTE really late at night so it’ll help insomniacs sleep.
and as Colm mentioned, front line staff and services in the country are crumbling and this is just a complete waste of money (no matter how little it costs)
It needs to be more widely available – Sky, Saorview as well as UPC. More homes have Sky I think then UPC.
A waste of money. They are barley able to keep the main tv Channels going. Have they not already got time on main stream television How many people would want to watch it anyway.In the present climate it is a non starter. Money can be better spent elsewhere.
Put the whole feckin’ thing on-line and make sure there’s a censorship free comments section with a thumbs up/down option. Instantaneous public feedback! And a nightly highlights show, with a panel that discusses the issues of the day and the most popular points raise in the comments section. Online would also be way more cost effective.
Tadhg, I was thinking of a LED display board on the back of the House (just like kid’s TV when b’day wishes etc are sent in) where we could text them about their filibustering. ;-) It’d have to be severely edited I think lol
Have it on UPC. Came in handy when I was trying to follow the debate on the copyright SI.
Folks if you don’t like the people on the TV, don’t put them there in the first place!
Get real, please. I mean please. Of course, maybe the feasibility study will realise that all the people at work soon after the Jobs Initiative won’t have time to watch this.
So polite.
Disgusted at the anti-openness comments on this feed. Looks like the conspiracy theorists have taken over the comments section of journal.ie! I wish ye’d cop on to yourselves!
Well considering the money currently being spent on televising the oireachtas and dail leaves the state (the last tender was awarded to a northern irish company) hopefully they will consider supporting local companies a priority for any further tenders.
Dario if you’d thrown a few more noughts on your €10 bid and buddied up with any of the TDs, you’d have been a shoe-in!!!!! ;-)
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