A source: Opposition fighters in E. Aleppo in dire straits but getting tactical help from USA (UPDATED)

UPDATE
See also Russian Warplanes Turn Aleppo City into Hell for Jeish al-Fatah; FARS. Aug. 9

*****

The following sitrep is from just one source, a Syrian journalist reportedly close to the opposition, but it's worth passing along with a couple caveats because of the source's detailed claim that the opposition is still getting help from the US and other axis powers. This is deeply troubling news if true because virtually all the opposition is terrorist groups or closely allied with them.  

> As to the opposition death toll that the source cites -- I think the number 2,000 Jaysh al-Fatah (also spelled Jeish) KIA is open to question because at least 3 days ago, a Russian military source reported that 800 opposition fighters, altogether, had been killed in the battle of Aleppo; if I recall correctly (don't quote me on this) at the same time a Syrian military source put the toll at about half that. 

But in any case, a large number of these opposition fighters have been killed during the past week by the combination of Russian/Syrian air power and the ground forces in the Syrian Army's coalition. 

> And because the SAA siege of E. Aleppo continues to hold, I question the source's assertion that these opposition fighters are still getting TOW missiles. How? The opposition can't even get more than a handful of food supply trucks past the SAA fire control line. 

Now it's possible that underneath the baskets of fruits and vegetables in the trucks there are some automatic weapons and ammo, but certainly not enough to adequately resupply the thousands of opposition fighters who are simply trapped in E. Aleppo, and I doubt they can stuff any al-towi into the trucks.

But it's the tactical help the opposition is reportedly continuing to receive from the USA, etc. that is plausible and again, troubling if true:

Tue Aug 09, 2016 - 2:0

Dissident Source: Militants in Aleppo in Dire Conditions

FARS

TEHRAN (FNA)- A source close to the terrorist groups in Eastern Aleppo has disclosed that the militants are in dire conditions and losing hope to get rid of the Syrian army and its allies' tightened siege of the region, Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm newspaper, said.

Atwan quoted a Syrian journalist close to the opposition forces as saying that the militants are having a hard time in the Eastern parts of Aleppo these days.

"He told me that they have lost or are almost losing Aleppo, the conditions are harsh and the siege of the region has crippled them," Atwan wrote on the Tuesday editorial of the daily.

"Russia's airstrikes are also exacerbating the difficult situation," the Syrian journalist told Atwan in a phone conversation.

Asked by Atwan of the reason for al-Nusra Front's renaming to Fatah al-Sham, he said, "It was the result of al-Nusra Front's disappointment."

Reports said on Monday that 2,000 members of Jeish al-Fatah terrorist group have been killed and many more injured in clashes with the Syrian Army troops and its popular allies in the Southern and Southwestern parts of Aleppo city in the last ten days.

The Syrian government forces repelled several rounds of Jeish al-Fatah's offensives to lift army's siege on Aleppo in the last ten days, leaving at least 2,000 militants dead and many more wounded.

Several commanders within the ranks of the Syrian army and Hezbollah said the terrorists in Aleppo are both receiving logistical aid and intelligence support from the western states, specially the US warships deployed in the Mediterranean Sea.

The latest intelligence operations by the resistance forces showed that the warships of the western states, specially the US, deployed in the Mediterranean Sea send intelligence to Jeish al-Fatah militants in Syria.

"The western countries' warships are providing the terrorists with information and intel about the resistance forces' moves round the clock and they (the militants) continue their operations with the help of the very same information," sources in resistance forces said on Monday.

Meantime, the latest news said that the terrorists' trans-regional supporters have supplied them with hundreds of anti-armored TOW missiles through their allies in the region.

"The Jeish al-Fatah members seek to break the siege of their comrades in Aleppo while the Hezbollah resistance forces are showing strong resistance against them with the least possibilities," a member of the resistance forces said.

Meantime, sources disclosed on Monday that Jeish al-Fatah's non-stop attacks to break the government forces' siege of Aleppo were mostly aimed at evacuating a number of Turkish and Western officers trapped in militant-held districts in Aleppo.

"Several military advisors and trainers, working for the terrorist groups were trapped in Eastern Aleppo and have been transferred to militant-held regions in Southern Aleppo via Jeish al-Fatah-established corridors in al-Ramousiyeh," the sources said.

After seven phases of massive operations by over 9,000 terrorists on multiple fronts in Eastern, Southern and Southwestern Aleppo in the last five days, the US-backed Jeish al-Fatah coalition of 22 terrorist groups failed to break the siege except for one very narrow stretch of land in the Southwest that is under hell fire by the Russian air force and Syrian artillery units blocking the terrorists from opening a path to go through to escape the siege or bring in supplies and fresh forces. 

Jeish al-Fatah has lost over 800 militants only in the Eastern frontline, while the latest reports on Sunday afternoon said they have so far lost 1200 militants in the South. The militants managed to win control over three of the five Army Academies, but later came under the Russian warplanes' non-stop airstrikes and an unending barrage of missile and rocket attacks by the Syrian artillery units.

Meantime, resistance forces said that at least 2,000 fresh popular forces have arrived in Aleppo to join the Syrian government forces' war against Jeish al-Fatah terrorists in the Southern parts of the city.

"The newly-arrived resistance fighters are specialists in street war and know very well different tactics of battling against the well-equipped terrorists," the sources said.
Syrian Army troops, Lebanese Hezbollah resistance forces, Iraqi resistance movements including al-Nujaba, Iranian military advisors (IRGC and Army), National Defense Forces and popular forces from Nubl and al-Zahra have taken part in joint operations in Aleppo.

[END REPORT]