Regime and Opposition Forces Destroy Properties Along Line of Contact Rural Aleppo
Regime forces have burnt and destroyed homes near the line of contact with rebels in the rural Aleppo governorate town of Tadef, while opposition forces have detonated homes and shops on the regime’s side. Both actors are apparently working to construct defensive points within the town, which has recently witnessed an escalation of violent clashes.
Opposition forces seized the majority of Tadef and expelled Islamic State fighters from the area during the Turkish army-backed Operation Euphrates Shield in 2017. Around that time, the regime’s 25th Special Mission Forces Division, a Russian-backed group also known as the Tiger Forces, took control of the remainder of Tadef. The town has been divided between the two sides since then. There are no longer any residents in the sections under regime control, which now contain many military offices and weapons warehouses. Most former residents who were displaced from this part of town are now in opposition-held areas of the northern part of rural Aleppo.
In early July, the regime escalated demolitions in the part of town under its control, while additional military reinforcements arrived on the scene. Meanwhile, opposition forces also reinforced their forces, expanding their military presence and building a defensive line over the ruins of demolished homes. Armed clashes and shelling broke out between both sides during this time.
Regime forces burned more than 30 homes and shops near the line of contact for “necessary military reasons,” a Tadef resident told The Syria Report. The aim was apparently to prevent opposition forces from digging tunnels and infiltrating regime positions. For the regime, bulldozing and demolishing properties allows them to monitor their defensive line.
On September 5, the opposition’s Third Corps group detonated a house where regime forces were based. Opposition forces published a video showing the home being blown up and claimed that regime soldiers and snipers were inside.
An opposition source told The Syria Report that Third Corps engineering units carried out the explosion, which destroyed the entire building and killed regime military personnel. These engineering units reportedly dug a tunnel to the house and blew up its foundation and the building, the source added.
Regime and opposition forces alike have long used tunnels and explosives to target certain buildings, including during the period of opposition control in east Aleppo city. The years 2012-2016 saw more than 20 underground detonations targeting military headquarters and other points on both sides. The explosions caused major damage to the heart of the Old City, compared with other neighbourhoods along the military lines of contact.
A month ago, regime forces detonated a 2,000-square-metre refrigeration facility on the outskirts of Aleppo city, accusing its owner of supporting the opposition and residing in the opposition-controlled city of Al-Bab in rural Aleppo. Before carrying out the explosion, Tiger Forces fighters dismantled the facility and looted its components, including stones and iron.
Opposition forces also recently blew up a two-storey building containing shops and apartments along the line of contact in Tadef. The building was damaged previously, but opposition forces recently demolished it to expand their scope of vision and better monitor the line of contact.