Syrian troops shell neighborhoods of largest city

The Syrian regime accused regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey of trying to destroy the country and vowed Sunday that it would defeat rebels who have captured large swathes of the commercial hub Aleppo.

Military forces in Aleppo fired tank and artillery shells at neighborhoods as rebels tried to repel the government air and ground assault. According to activists, rebels who launched an operation to take over Syria's largest city a week ago are estimated to control between a third and a half of Aleppo's neighborhoods.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, on a visit to Iran, leveled some rare public criticism of Sunni powers in the Middle East, saying Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are supporting a plot hatched by Israel to destroy Syria. The three countries have all been backing rebels trying to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar Assad.

"Israel is the mastermind of all in this crisis," Moallem told a joint news conference in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi . "They (Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey) are fighting in the same front."

The battle for Aleppo, once a bastion of support for Assad's regime, is critical for both the regime and the opposition. Its fall would be a major blow to Assad, giving the opposition a major strategic victory with a new stronghold in the north.

AP

Syrian rebels sit in a pick up truck in Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, July 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Alberto Prieto)

"They mobilized all their armed terrorists and tried to capture Damascus in less than a week," Moallem said. "They were defeated. Today, they've gone to Aleppo and definitely they will be defeated in Aleppo," he added. The rebels mounted a challenge to the regime in Damascus before the assault on Aleppo, but after a week of intense clashes, they were defeated.

Iran, Syria's only remaining ally in the Middle East, has provided Assad's government with military and political backing for years, and has kept up its strong support for the regime since the uprising began in March 2011.

Sunday's bombardment was part of a government counter-offensive to retake control of districts that had fallen into rebel hands last week at the beginning of their bid to capture Aleppo.

Activists said the shelling was most intense in the southwestern neighborhoods of Salaheddine, Bustan al-Qasr and parts of Saif al-Dawla, some of the first areas seized by the rebels when they started the push last week after being routed in a similar attack against the capital Damascus.

"Life in Aleppo has become unbearable. I'm in my car and I'm leaving right now," said a Syrian opposition writer who was fleeing the city Sunday. "There's shelling night and day, every day," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The writer and other activists from Aleppo said economic conditions had become dire in the city.

"Bread, gasoline and gas are being sold on the black market at very high prices," he said. "Many things are in shortage."

State-run news agency SANA said security agents were hunting down armed groups in several areas of Aleppo including Salaheddine, inflicting heavy losses upon the "terrorists" ? the term authorities use to describe the rebels.

SANA quoted an Aleppo official as saying troops would continue until the city is "purged" of armed groups and peace and tranquility is restored.

Source: http://feeds.abcnews.com/click.phdo?i=3465553a9420b134aa3ca691fe5e8251

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