Syrian government forces use tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery against Free Syrian army 2507122

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Conflict in the World - Syria
 
 
Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 09:08 AM
 
Syrian government forces use tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery against Free Syrian army.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces have launched massive counter assaults in Damascus and Aleppo. They appear to have beaten rebels back from neighborhoods in the capital and are turning towards Aleppo, a commercial hub in the north.
     
President Bashar al-Assad's forces have launched massive counter assaults in Damascus and Aleppo.. They appear to have beaten rebels back from neighborhoods in the capital and are turning towards Aleppo, a commercial hub in the north.
Syrian rebels fighters at a checkpoint in the northern city of Aleppo on July 24, 2012.
     

Syrian forces fired artillery and rocket barrages early on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at the northern Damascus suburb of al-Tel in an attempt to seize the town from rebels, causing mass panic and forcing hundreds of families to flee the area, residents and opposition activists said.

The 216th mechanized battalion headquartered near Tel started bombarding the town of about 100,000 people at 3:15 a.m. (0015 GMT) and initial reports indicated residential apartment blocks were being hit, they said.

"Military helicopters are flying now over the town. People were awakened by the sound of explosions and are running away," Rafe Alam, one of the activists, said by phone from a hill overlooking Tel. "Electricity and telephones have been cut off."

Opposition activists said thousands of troops had withdrawn with their tanks and armored vehicles from the strategic Jabal al-Zawiya highlands in Idlib province near the Turkish border and were headed towards Aleppo.

Rebels attacked the rear of the troops withdrawing from the region at the villages of Orom al-Joz and rami near the main Aleppo-Latakia road and at the village of al-Bara west of the Aleppo-Damascus highway, activist Abdelrahman Bakran said from the area.

In Aleppo, helicopters swirled overhead firing missiles throughout Tuesday, residents said. Rebels were battling government forces by the gates of the historic old city. Troops fired mortars and shells at rebels armed with rifles and machineguns.