Aleppo Braces For Expected Syrian Onslaught

July 27, 2012

Syrian activists say government troops fired from helicopter gunships on several neighborhoods of Syria's second-largest city of Aleppo on July 27.

Army forces have reportedly been massing since July 26 on the city outskirts for an expected major offensive against rebels there.

Some residents are reportedly fleeing Aleppo's southwest neighborhoods.

Nationwide, nearly 30 people were reportedly killed in Syria on July 27.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has expressed concern over "unconfirmed reports of extrajudicial killings and shootings of civilians during fighting" in the suburbs of Damascus by regime forces.

Pillay said "the increasing use of heavy weapons, tanks, attack helicopters, and reportedly even jet fighters in urban areas" were putting civilians at "grave risk."

A Syrian parliamentarian representing Aleppo said on July 27 she had defected to Turkey.

Ikhlas al-Badawi accused the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of atrocities, telling Sky News Arabia she had fled “because of the repression and savage torture against a nation demanding the minimum of rights."

Badawi is reported to be the first member of the assembly elected in May and dominated by Assad's Ba'ath Party to defect.

Syria's neighbors are alarmed by the increasing violence that has already briefly spilled over into Lebanon, and on July 27 spilled over into Jordan.

Reports said Jordanian and Syrian forces exchanged fire after Syrian troops opened fire on some 300 Syrian refugees trying to escape into Jordan.

Jordanian security forces said a 10-minute battle broke out with Syrian forces in the Tal Al Sihab region. A Jordanian government spokesman would only confirm that Syrian forces fired on the refugees.

Saudi Arabian news network Al-Arabiya reported that two Jordanian soldiers were wounded in the exchange of fire.

In Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davlatoglu said on July 27 that his government is keeping a close watch along its frontier with Syria.

Davlatoglu said Ankara's main concern was that groups such as the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or Al-Qaeda would establish a presence along Syria's border with Turkey.

After last month's downing of a Turkish military plane by Syria, Turkish officials have warned of a heavy response if Syrian forces fired across the border.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

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Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.