PHOTO: Claimed image of rebels inside the town of Ramouseh, southwest of Aleppo

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  • Media Activist Killed Near Aleppo
  • Rebel Coalition Breaks with US-Supported New Syrian Army
  • Russia-Regime Bombing of Displaced Persons’ Camps in Aleppo Province
  • Russia Hits Rebel Warehouse with Cruise Missiles
  • Syria and Iraq Audio Analysis: ISIS — Spent Force or Resurgent Power?

    THURSDAY FEATURES

    Analysis: Russia’s Propaganda Over “Rebel Chemical Attack” in Aleppo
    Syria and Iraq Audio Analysis: ISIS — Spent Force or Resurgent Power?

    UPDATE 1630 GMT: Rebels have partially lifted their media blackout to announce a new phase in the offensive southwest of Aleppo.

    Rebel spokesmen are already claiming the capture of the villages of al-Jamiyat and al-Amiriya, where battles have been taking place since Monday.

    ORIGINAL ENTRY: Local sources reported a “fluid” situation, with “lots of hit-and-run battles”, on the fourth day of a major rebel offensive near Syria’s largest city Aleppo.

    The sources said on Wednesday afternoon that rebels had taken about half of Ramouseh, on the ring road southwest of Aleppo, after entering the town on Tuesday.

    They said rebels had the area next to a regime artillery base, but fighting continued for neighborhoods and the industrial area, as well as outside the town. They indicated that Russian air attacks were preventing a collapse of regime defenses: “Rebels retreat when Russia bombs and advance afterwards. [Pro-Assad troops] just occupy a place after Russian airstrikes and then flee when rebels attack.”

    See also Syria Daily, August 3: Rebels Continue Advance Near Aleppo

    Footage of fighting in Ramouseh:

    Further news was limited after rebels imposed a news blackout on operations, trying to prevent any indication to the Russian air force of their positions.

    The gap was filled by unconfirmed claims and rumors, recycled as fact by outlets like Al Jazeera English. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights spread the unsubstantiated “news” that pro-Assad forces recaptured two hilltops and two villages.

    State news agency SANA did not report the supposed gains, but did proclaim — without evidence — that “hundreds” of “terrorists” had been killed by the Syrian army.

    SANA reduced the rebel offensive — which since Sunday has taken a staging area for the Syrian military, Iran, and Hezbollah; a series of villages; and an oil depot as well as part of Ramouseh — to “an infiltration attempt by terrorist groups”.

    The pro-opposition Local Coordination Committees documented 41 deaths in Aleppo Province on Wednesday, among 93 across Syria.

    Video from the rebel faction Jaish al-Islam of operations, including the capture of the village of al-Mashrifah near Ramouseh:

    Footage of the 1070 housing complex, with rebels claiming that regime counter-attacks have been repelled:

    Free Syrian Army footage from the 1070 housing complex of movement of civilians to safe areas:

    Media Activist Killed Near Aleppo

    Media activist Mustafa Mohamed Abdul Razzak has been killed while covering battles near Aleppo:

    Abdul Razzak

    Rebel Coalition Breaks with US-Supported New Syrian Army

    A rebel coalition has broken ties with the New Syrian Army, the US-backed force created to fight the Islamic State in eastern Syria.

    The Authenticity and Development Front announced that it suspended the NSA “as a result of past events that occurred”.

    The coalition did not give specific reasons for the break, but rebel factions have been angered at the contrast between US support for the NSA and American cut-off of aid and arms to rebels in southern Syria.

    “We were not seduced by any kind of support or mouthwatering privileges from anyone [and did not] give up our legitimate or national constants,” the Authenticity and Development Front said in its statement.

    It declared that the New Syrian Army’s actions “do not fit our attitude.”

    The rebels stressed that they would “cooperate with serious countries” helping their efforts in eastern Syria, but said that this must be a “genuine partnership” to challenge the Assad regime.

    The New Syrian Army was created in late 2015, with substantial US support, to focus on ISIS rather than Assad forces. It had some success in the spring with the capture of al-Tanf near the Iraqi border. However, it then lost fighters in an ISIS suicide attack and suffered a further setback on June 28 when it failed to take al-Bukamal, a key town on ISIS supply routes from Iraq to eastern Syria.

    In a related development, claims are circulating that 500 members of the Southern Front, unhappy with the lack of US support, have defected to Islamist factions such as Ahrar al-Sham.

    The Southern Front made significant advances against regime forces in spring 2015, but were checked in attacks on Daraa city and near Suweida Province, in part because of the restrictions on assistance from the US-led Military Operations Command in the Jordanian capital Amman.

    Russia-Regime Bombing of Displaced Persons’ Camps in Aleppo Province

    Russian and regime warplanes have continued bombing of Atareb in western Aleppo Province, striking camps for displaced Syrians.

    The White Helmets rescuers report that two of their personnel were injured. One is in a coma.

    Scores of people were killed and injured in Atareb earlier this week by Russian-regime attacks, even though the area is far from the military frontline near Aleppo city.

    Russia Hits Rebel Warehouse with Cruise Missiles

    The rebel faction Jaish al-Islam has confirmed that Russia hit one of its warehouses in Idlib Province with cruise missiles on Wednesday night:

    The Jaish al-Islam spokesman, Captain Islam Alloush, said:

    Russian occupying forces hit Jaish al-Islam sites using ballistic missiles. The strikes caused a huge blast in locations hit.

    Losses were limited to material damage as no deaths or injuries were reported.

    Alloush said the missiles were probably launched from the Mediterranean.

    The blast, near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, was strong enough to be heard across the border in Turkey’s Hatay Province.

    Local sources report “limited damage” from the attack.