Konflikten i Syrien

Syrian National Coalition representative to Turkey, Khalid Khoja, denied reports that the Coalition intends to decamp to Cairo after the Turkish authorities asked the opposition body to leave. He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I met with the Turkish Foreign Ministry representative yesterday and he confirmed that Turkey welcomes the Coalition and its members. Turkey views this as a principles position based on supporting the Syrian people’s struggle against dictatorship.”

Indeed, the greatest contributing factor to the regime's latest round of victories has been the violent and bloody infighting between rebels of the Islamic Front, and al-Qaeda’s offshoot, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The fighting is so intense and bitter that it sapped the strength and morale of the anti-regime forces and saw once powerful brigades such as the Qatari-backed Liwa al-Tawheed — which was greatly weakened by the death of its charismatic leader Abdelkader al-Saleh in a regime strike last November — wither away and retreat from the advance of the regime. In fact, the only rebel factions still strong enough to resist and fight the regime on the latest fronts are the radical Islamists. The town of Azizeh, just outside the Marjeh area in the east, the strategically vital Sheikh Najjar industrial zone, the old city and Aleppo's central prison are all defended by al-Qaeda’s affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, as well as Salafist militants Ahrar al-Sham, a member of the Islamic Front.

More of a concern for mainstream rebels and their internal and foreign supporters are rumors spread by displaced persons from east Aleppo that some fighters are laying down their arms and abandoning their posts in rebel parts of Aleppo city, fleeing across the border to Turkey while they still can. Essentially, the only rebel forces left fighting in Aleppo are radical Islamist groups, the type that backers of the moderate Syrian opposition do not want to see prevailing.