Assad forces prep assault to retake Aleppo: report Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-28/218614-regime-force

Assad forces prep assault to retake Aleppo: reportMay 28, 2013 11:12 AM (Last updated: May 28, 2013 02:29 PM)

The Daily Star

In this photo released on Sunday May 26, 2013, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad run to take their position during clashes against Syrian rebels, in Aleppo, Syria. Syria's Information Ministry says rebels have killed a TV correspondent who was covering clashes near the border with Lebanon. (AP Photo/SANA)

BEIRUT: Syrian government forces are gearing up to retake from rebels the northern city of Aleppo, the local Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday.

The newspaper, citing security sources, said the Syrian army has begun mobilizing troops around Aleppo in preparation to storm the province and regain control of Syria’s largest city.

Syrian rebels have been in control of Aleppo since last July.

Al-Akhbar said the Syrian army would launch the offensive to retake Aleppo once they regain full control of Qusair in Homs province.

“A few days separate us from the battle for Aleppo,” the daily, quoting a source, reported.

Al-Akhbar said if successful, the regime would have managed to regain control of the country’s most significant provinces, the other being Homs.

Meanwhile, pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper, quoting a Syrian opposition official, reported Tuesday that Hezbollah appeared to be widening the scope of its military operations beyond the clash point of Qusair into the outskirts of the Syrian capital.

“Something very dangerous is happening: the Hezbollah militia has begun to move into the outskirts of Damascus. This is a new development that we did not expect,” Khaled Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition, said.

“It seems that the Hezbollah militia is completely involved in Syria and this has been confirmed in intelligence reports we received from allied countries,” he added.

Over the weekend, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, the head of the Lebanese resistance group, confirmed for the first time his military force was heavily involved in the Syria war. He vowed that Hezbollah, which is backing regime forces, would fight in Syria until victory.

Dozens of the party fighters have died in recent battles to take over the strategic Homs town of Qusair, which lies just 10 kilometers from the Lebanese border.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-28/218614-regime-forces-ready-to-retake-syrias-aleppo-report.ashx#ixzz2UaoPzgHF 
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