BEIRUT:Syria appointed Wael Al Halqi as the new Prime Minister Thursday as the rebel Free Syrian Army withdrew completely from the embattled district of Sala Al Din in the northern city of Aleppo.
“We have staged a tactical withdrawal from Sala Al Din,” Hossam Abu Mohammad told AFP by telephone. “The district is completely empty of rebel fighters. Regime forces are now advancing into Salaheddin.”
The rebels are still in streets near the key neighbourhood, said Abu Mohammad, who commands the Dara al Shahbaa Brigade. “We are in the Saif Al Dawla and Mashhad districts” east of Sala Al Din, he said.
He cited the violent bombardment by regime forces as the reason behind the FSA withdrawal.
“The artillery and aerial bombardments are very heavy, and they are targeting all rebel-held areas surrounding Salaheddin,” said Abu Mohammad.
“The shelling of Sala Al Din was so heavy that we have a cloud of dust above Sala Al Din,” he added.
Another FSA commander confirmed the pull-out.
“The FSA’s brigades have staged a tactical withdrawal from Sala Al Din in order to open a new front in Saif Al Dawla and Mashhad,” said Wassel Ayub, who commands the Nur Al Haq Brigade.
“We had full control of the district last night, but then regime forces bombarded in an unprecedented way,” Ayub said. “The situation is terrible, and we have decided to stage a tactical withdrawal.”
FSA spokesman Kassem Saadeddine said “he withdrawal from Sala Al Din does not mean we are leaving Aleppo. We have military plans to fight in the city, but we cannot reveal them,” he told AFP by Skype.
Saadeddine also cited “the intensity of the bombings” as the cause behind the withdrawal.
In Damascus, a security source told AFP regime forces were advancing in the district.
“The army is advancing quickly in Sala Al Din towards Seif Al Dawla,” the source said. “But the next big battle, which will be very fierce, will be in the (southeastern) Sukkari district.” “For the battle in Sala Al Din, the army used only 10 per cent of the reinforcements sent” to Aleppo, the source said. Regime forces deployed 20,000 troops as reinforcements to Aleppo in recent days.
Rebels and regime forces have engaged in fierce fighting over Sala Al Din for more than two weeks. The rebels have claimed to control some 50 per cent of Syria’s commercial capital. Amid the fighting, Al Assad appointed a new Prime Minister to take over after Riad Hijab defected on Monday. “The president has signed Decree 298, appointing Wael Al Halqi as the new prime minister,” the broadcaster reported.
Hijab’s was the highest-level defection from Assad’s regime since the outbreak of a revolt almost 17 months ago. The defected premier arrived on Wednesday morning in Jordan with his family, according to Jordanian Information Minister Samih Maayatah.
“Hijab and members of his family entered Jordan during the early hours of Wednesday,” Maayatah said.
