Syrian army recaptures Aleppo’s three Christian areasAugust 23, 2012 - 21:39 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Syrian army has recaptured Christian areas in the city of Aleppo after heavy fighting with rebels, leaving streets desolated and deserted apart from local youths on patrol, residents said on Thursday, Aug. 23. "We have had the worst two days of our lives," Sonia, the wife of a wealthy businessman in the northern city which is also Syria's commercial capital, said. "If our house weren't built like a fortress, we'd all be dead. The entrance is very badly damaged. We couldn't sleep all night," said the resident of Telal, which the army seized on Wednesday along with Jdeide and Sulamaniyeh. Aleppo residents reported heavy exchanges in the heart of the city during the army's offensive to recapture the three neighbourhoods seized by the rebels at the weekend. Of the three Christian quarters in the historic Old City of Aleppo, Jdeide and Telal were once frequented by tourists for their restaurants and handicraft shops. The rebel Free Syrian Army had also seized the nearby neighborhood of Sulamaniyeh, most of whose inhabitants are Armenian Christians and which is home to ancient monasteries and a Melkite Greek Catholic cathedral. The bishop of the cathedral on Farhat Square, left pockmarked by the fighting, himself had to beat a hasty retreat before the rebels moved in because of his pro-regime comments, another resident said, according to AFP. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |