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After some confusion on Tuesday, Syria’s rebels have confirmed victories north of Aleppo, including the control of Handarat village.

Opposition forces, who have moved into the village on Monday, consolidated the takeover yesterday, with videos confirming their victory.

The Handarat area is strategically important because of a main highway maintaining access to rebels in eastern Aleppo city, divided since July 2012. Syrian forces have tried for months to cut the route, but suffered a deadly defeat in February when rebels killed scores of regime troops in their failed offensive.

Following that reversal, rebels — who already held the separate Handarat camp — moved on Handarat hill and the nearby village.

The confusion arose on Tuesday because Jabhat al-Nusra put out a statement misidentifying a regime missile base, where fighting continues, as part of Handarat village. The Levant Front, the rebel bloc in northwest Syria, later repeated that full control had been established in the village, posting videos to support the claim.

(Warning: Images of slain regime troops)


After the rebel takeover, the Syrian air force bombed the center of Handarat, including the area near the mosque:

The rebels have also captured other villages such as Mazari’ Duwayr al-Zaytun, to the north of Handarat. While shelling the regime missile base, they may move farther north to take another village, Sayfat, from Syrian forces.

The advance puts further pressure on Bashkuy, the only village taken by regime forces in a failed offensive last month — is now cut off.

The victories also coincide with notable operations in the regime-controlled western portion of Aleppo city. Last week the opposition carried out the underground bombing of the Air Force Intelligence building in the al-Zahraa district, and they set off more explosion on Monday near the historic Citadel.

Syrian State news agency SANA continues to ignore the fighting north of Aleppo, while pro-Assad sites maintain that “the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and National Defense Forces (NDF) control at least 80 percent of Handarat, including the village-center and the entire northern sector”.

More video of rebels in Handarat village:

US Defense Secretary: I Don’t Know If We Can Protect “Our” Rebels From Assad’s Forces

The US Defense Secretary has told Congress that he does not know if Washington has legal authority to protect Syrian rebels whom it trains from attack by President Assad’s forces.

Ash Carter told a Senate hearing, “My understanding of that question is that we don’t foresee that happening any time soon, but a legal determination, I’m told by the lawyers, has not been made, whether we would have authority to do that or not.”

The US has said that training will begin in late March of a force of “moderate” rebels, with a vision that they will confront the Islamic State. Washington has set a target of 3,000 men trained and equipped for battle by the end of 2015.