Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Beirut: A barrage of barrel bomb attacks and Syrian regime air strikes had caused "unprecedented levels of destruction and many deaths among the civilian population" in the besieged city of Zabadani, the United Nations envoy for Syria has warned.
As the fighting in Zabadani entered its fourth week, local activists reported the regime of Bashar al-Assad, backed by Hezbollah fighters, had intensified its attacks on the only rebel-held city in the contested Qalamoun region near the border between Syria and Lebanon.
Islamist and jihadist rebel groups retaliated by firing rockets and heavy mortar shells on several villages near the northern city of Idlib where they say a large number of civilians were trapped.
"In both cases, civilians are tragically caught in the middle of the fighting," Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Syria and Iraq was quoted by Reuters as saying.
At least 10 regime airstrikes were accompanied by surface-to-surface missiles fired around the city as the Syrian Army and Hezbollah attempted to wrest control of the strategic city, 45 kilometres northwest of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Wednesday.
"It is a turning point in the war in Syria," retired Lebanese Army General and military analyst Elias Farhat told Fairfax Media. "This is the last stronghold of the al-Qaeda affiliated groups of Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham in this area."
The Syrian Air Force's fourth division, backed by an estimated 3000 Hezbollah forces have encircled the town of Zabadani after taking over the surrounding hills, he says, predicting the battle is in its final stages.
Most civilians had evacuated the centre of the city, he says.
If Zabadani falls back under the control of the Syrian regime "all the borders with Lebanon will be safe and the coastal part of Syria will be secured, including Latakia, Homs, Tartus and Damascus – this is very important for the regime to be able to reorganise its units, manoeuvre forces and protect the most populated areas."
It will also protect Lebanon from future terrorist attacks from al-Qaeda affiliated groups, says General Farhat.
"We have had 12 suicide bombers in the last two years – now we don't rule out attacks but the possibility is less because they will not have the infrastructure to equip cars with bombs in Zabadani and the Qalamoun," he says.
Meanwhile at least 12 people died and dozens more were wounded when regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the village of Qaser al-Breij in the north eastern countryside of Aleppo, which is held by the Islamic State group, the Observatory, citing local activists, said.
More than 230,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, descending into a deadly civil war that has pitted the regime against rebel groups, the Islamic State and the al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra.
Earlier this month the United Nations announced the number of Syrian refugees had reached four million, most living in grim conditions in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. Another seven million others are internally displaced, in what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian crisis "of our time".
