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July 31st, 2013 
Peter Nolan
The opposition says President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was behind it and
Washington has said it has seen no firm evidence of rebel responsibility.
The Damascus government has pressed for Khan al-Assal to be the primary focus
of a planned UN inquiry into a total of 13 allegations of chemical weapons
use during the 28-month conflict.
The rebels’ capture of the town last week came as two UN envoys visited
Damascus to thrash out the ground rules for UN weapons inspectors. They came
away with an agreement but UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said he is still
reviewing the details.
The army also bombarded several rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo city
before dawn on Wednesday, the Observatory said. Several children were
wounded when a shell hit a field hospital in the Maysara neighbourhood.
Pro-government newspaper Al-Watan quoted a senior official it did not identify
as saying that troop reinforcements would arrive in Aleppo soon to boost the
army’s hand against the rebels.
“Aleppo is still the number one priority for Syrian leaders,” the
paper cited the official as saying.
“The resistance being put up by the city will disappoint those who are
counting on it falling into the clutches of international terrorism.”
The Syrian government consistently refers to all rebel forces as “terrorists”
and makes no distinction between jihadists groups blacklisted by Washington
and mainstream groups that have Western and Arab backing.
“The strategic successes of the army in Homs and in the eastern suburbs
(of the capital) mean it is more determined than ever to carry out its
duties in Aleppo,” Al-Watan said.
On Monday, the army recaptured the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood of Homs in its
biggest gain so far in a month-old offensive against the remaining
rebel-held districts of the strategic central city.
The city’s oil refinery came under fire on Wednesday for the second time in a
week, the Observatory said.
Several of the refinery’s staff were wounded by “terrorist rocket fire,”
the state SANA news agency.
As UN efforts to convene a Russian- and US-backed peace conference have
faltered, government forces have launched counteroffensives in the centre
and north, as well as around the capital.
The opposition has vowed to step up efforts to capture the remaining
government-held districts of second city Aleppo.
Edited for Telegraph.co.uk by Barney
Henderson
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