70 percent of Aleppo under control: Rebels

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Abdulkadir Salih (C), the leader of Liwa al-Tawhid, speaks during a conference. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Field leader of the rebel al-Tawhid Brigade in Syria, Abdulkader Saleh, has claimed that they have so far secured control of 70 percent of the city of Aleppo on the ground, and that they are fighting to seize control of the remaining 30 percent.

“The battle for Aleppo will end this stalemate. We control the ground in Aleppo, but the regime has air forces and they have control in the air. They are bombing us with jets. We will solve this by destroying airports and air bases,” Saleh told journalists at a press conference in Istanbul. His comments came a day after a senior Syrian commander said the Syrian army will recapture Aleppo from rebel forces within 10 days. The general said that about 3,000 government troops were involved in the fight against about 7,000 “terrorists,” a term used by regime officials to describe the rebels.

He added that 2,000 rebels had been killed since the start of the assault on Aleppo at the start of August, according to Agence France-Presse. Saleh also called on the international powers to not stand aside and watch the massacres of the Syrians “as if they are watching a film.” He also said the rebel forces had not received any kind of weaponry, either from Turkey or any other country.