this
[Music]
this is the heart of aleppo one of the
world's oldest cities
now a wasteland of war
since the war reached aleppo two years
ago syria's industrial and commercial
capital
has been the scene of bitter house to
house fighting as both the rebels and
the regime struggle for overall control
vice news spent two weeks with rebel
fighters from the islamic front
coalition
as they struggled to hold their
positions
while the islamic front rebel to place
government held west aleppo under
siege their stronghold in aleppo's
ancient old city
has come under threat from a regime
pushed to cut off their supply line
to turkey in the north now the islamic
state the most powerful single force in
syria
is the real threat advancing towards
aleppo from the east
i think we're in a building directly
underneath
regime positions
most of aleppo's residents have fled the
city with just a handful of civilians
and rebel fighters holding on in the
shattered ruins
whoever controls aleppo will win the war
in syria
he just lobbed a grenade over now the
regime are firing back spying right at
this wall
so
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this is the idlia mosque the ancient
monuments of aleppo and the oldest
buildings in
one of the oldest cities in the world
and it's just been completely pulverised
by the war
it's just this completely eerie
post-apocalyptic world
the old city is completely deserted it's
only fighters from the islamic front
from the tahoe brigade left here most
civilians have fled
the tahiti brigade they've surrounded
government troops in the city
about 100 meters in that direction in
turn government forces government
reinforcements are
pushing south trying to cut off the old
city trying to surround the rebels and
retake aleppo
but for the moment it's just a war of
snipers
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the islamic front is the strongest rebel
force in aleppo
overwhelmingly made up of fighters from
the taoheed brigade
a former free syrian army group linked
to the muslim brotherhood
when gulf-funded islamist groups began
to receive more supplies in the
secular-leaning fsa
fsa units like the taoheed brigade
joined the new islamist coalition
the islamic front but u.s
pressure on the islamic front's former
sponsor qatar
has drastically cut off their supply
line
squeezed between the regime and islamic
state and ignored by the west
they're in a perilous position
abu ammar an islamic front commander
brought us the district of aleppo's old
city under his controller
[Applause]
foreign
[Laughter]
[Applause]
jailed for years in syria's infamous
sednaya prison for membership of the
muslim brotherhood
like many islamists abu alma was
released by the regime in the first days
of the revolution
he immediately took up arms against
assad
the tour of front line positions around
narrow alleyways in the old city
you can see they've put barrels filled
with sand
sandbags
because the snipers are in a tall
building and a high point they can shoot
down into here
you see bullet holes in the wall all
around us so it's a
means of protection
[Applause]
oh
you
[Applause]
m
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with both rebels and regime too
exhausted to defeat each other
the war in aleppo has devolved into a
constant grinding war of attrition
for individual buildings
[Music]
there's shouting the fighters here the
taunting
and the shooting
foreign
[Music]
right now
sniper nest has been completely ruined
otherwise it's been completely pollened
by shelling
it would have been a nice house before
the gorgeous house
there's a painting on the wall he's
still got garlic hanging up in the
water
regime snipers in that way they're
telling us to uh
move a bit quickly
let's point out the regime flag not far
away at all about
50 meters less than that it's like pot
shots overhead
it's weird it's almost like a sort of
playground of war like they're just
taking over a whole city
like they could just wander into any
house they won't do whatever they want
to it
turn it into a base turn it into a
firing position
it's ramadan and fighters and civilians
are making their way to an islamic front
kitchen to draw their rations
to the iftar
invited to break the fast with islamic
front fighters
it's where they hang out listen to music
they've got cctv there they're watching
uh
whether or not the enemy trying to
infiltrate from here you know the
government is trying to come through
here
this looks like it's part of the old
suit like these were once grand
merchants houses completely wrecked now
foreign
it's pretty relaxed the sun's setting
birds are chirping
you can hear the sound of a mig flying
overhead and then the sound of the bombs
it released
landing somewhere in aleppo
did
[Applause]
i mean
it's pretty surreal i mean we're like
essentially camping out in this
ancient courtyard
drinking tea the government forces about
50 meters in that way and that way you
can hear them
shooting overhead constantly helicopters
flying overhead
constantly dropping barrel bombs a
kilometer two kilometers away
for us just dropping in here the whole
thing seems
completely surreal but for them this is
normal
it's what every day it's been like for
the past two years
foreign
m
i'm hung out with the guys we're
chatting talking about the situation
head back to the safe house
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hello
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[Applause]
foreign
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foreign
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