Panetta says Aleppo attack is a nail in Syrian President al-Assad's coffin
Helicopter gunships opened fire over Aleppo and the thud of artillery boomed across neighborhoods as government forces and rebels fought for control of the city.
The US Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta said at the outset of a five-day Mideast tour that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s use of helicopter gunships to counter a civil uprising will prove to be ‘ a nail in Assad’s coffin. ‘
Heavy fighting is continuing in Syria’s largest city Aleppo where government forces are trying to oust rebel fighters. United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said 200 thousand of people had fled the fighting in Aleppo and that an unknown number were in deadfall.
‘ Syria’s Aleppo is nail in Assad’s coffin ‘ / Leon Panetta speaking at the start of a five-day Middle East tour
While giving no indication that the US President Barack Obama administration is contemplating military intervention, US US secretary Leon Panetta said it is increasingly clear that the Syrian crisis is deepening and that Syrian leader al-Assad is hastening his own demise.
US secretary Panetta did not offer any new steps the US might take even as he renewed calls for a united international effort to bring the al-Assad regime down. Leon Panetta has commented to the reporters : ‘ If they continue this kind of tragic attack on their own people…I think it ultimately will be a nail in Assad’s coffin. His regime is coming to an end. ‘
The United States has told it is stepping up assistance to Syria’s collapsed opposition, although it remains limited to non-lethal supplies such as communications gear and medical equipment.
Leon Panetta said he would use his meetings in Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Jordan to reinforce an international consensus that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad must step down and allow a peaceful transition to a democratic form of government.
Fear and hunger in Aleppo / The Free Syrian Army & other rebels still fighting in Aleppo
Most food shops in the turbulent districts are now closed. The rioters tried to marshal the crowds as hundreds of hungry and increasingly desperate residents clamoured for the thin round loaves.
Aleppo Crisis political news / Syrian rebels increasing effectiveness in conflict
A lot of poor Syrian residents are suffering from a lack of food and water and many are going to bed hungry every day. Their suffering does not seem likely to end soon. Food, water and power shortages have made life hard for residents. The ever-present danger from bombs and bullets is making it intolerable.
The Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimated that 200 thousand people have fled Aleppo and surrounding areas in the past 2 days.
The defence secretary Leon Panetta said he would also continue efforts to ensure that Syria’s stockpiles of chemical weapons did not fall into the wrong hands.
US defense secretary Leon Panetta will be in Israel just days after US Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who has cast the Barack Obama administration as too soft on Iran and insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state.
