Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
Jun 16, 2015, Al Masdar News
On Monday morning, the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” – in coordination with Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham – carried a brutal assault on the provincial capital of the Aleppo Governorate, killing 31 civilians (including 12 children) and wounding 184 others after they launched over 300 mortar shells and rockets into the Al-Rashideen, Al-Ashrafiyeh, and Al-Ramouseh Districts.
Following their barrage of mortars and rockets, the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra, Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen, and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham stormed the northern neighborhoods of the Al-Ashrafiyeh and Al-Rashideen Districts, where they encountered fierce resistance from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) before they quickly advanced past their frontline defenses at the aforementioned areas in Aleppo City.
However, the Islamist combatants would not hold onto this success for very long, as a large convoy of reinforcements from the predominately Palestinian “Jerusalem Brigades” (Liwaa Al-Quds) and the Al-Ba’ath Battalions poured into the provincial capital’s northern and western sectors; this resulted in a powerful counter-assault on the Islamist militants that led to their eventual withdrawal from the Al-Ashrafiyeh District.
According to a military source in the Aleppo Governorate, the firefights lasted for a little over ten hours before the violence subsided and the Al-Qaeda affiliates withdrew their fighters; this assault was costly for the Islamist militants, as they lost over 40 of their combatants during their attempt to advance their positions in the provincial capital.
The source further added that the SAA’s Central Command reported 9 casualties from the SAA, 13 casualties from the NDF, and 2 casualties from the Jerusalem Brigades – the number of soldiers wounded-in-action (WIA) could not be verified by Al-Masdar News.
