Saturday, March 2, 2013  Assad forces take Aleppo village,
reopening supply line  10:17 AM  Share it Please  BEIRUT
(Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces seized a
village southeast of the city of Aleppo on Friday, reopening a
supply line to the country's biggest city where they have been
battling rebels for eight months, a monitoring group said. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the capture of Tel
Shghaib marked the last step to creating a land supply route
north into Aleppo from Hama province, crucial for Assad's forces
who have lost control of part of the main north-south highway.
Rebels say they hold most of the city itself and nearly all the
rural hinterland. But they have been unable to achieve a
decisive victory and complain that they are outgunned and
vulnerable to Assad's air force, artillery and ballistic
missiles, which killed dozens of people in Aleppo last week. The
United States pledged direct but non-lethal aid to the rebels at
a meeting in Rome on Thursday, disappoin