“Rebels say their immediate aim is to cut off supplies from government troops, but it appears the blockade is also part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening support for the government and pressuring civilians in government-held areas to leave. If the western part of Aleppo, now home to two million Syrians, becomes empty of civilians, a ground assault by rebels would be easier to carry out and more morally defensible, rebels argue. Abu al-Haytham, a fighter whose unit is among those enforcing the siege, stressed that the Free Syrian Army’s aim was not to punish residents but to block government supplies and prompt civilians to seek refuge elsewhere, opening the way for a ground attack. “Our siege is not just about tomatoes and cucumbers. We want to storm security buildings, and the presence of civilians is obstructing our movement,” he said in a Skype interview. But for citizens trying to get by, it is more basic: it is about eating. Recently, a woman was trying to cross back into the government-controlled part of the city when she was stopped at a rebel checkpoint. Fighters refused to let her cross with the prize she had come for: bags of fruits, vegetables and medicine…………….”

Liwaa al-Tawheed is an Islamist fundamentalist group, most likely another Salafi gang. That is what its name tells me: al-Tawheed, al-Farooq, al-Umma, al-Sunna, al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, Abu Qatada, Abu Yazeed, Abu Lahab and a few other “al‘s” and “Abu‘s” that plague Syria these days. The meaning of the name is as clear to me as the Ku Klux Klan in the American Deep South (and elsewhere nowadays).
These guys, these Salafi cutthroats, make Hezbollah, so demonized in American media courtesy of the Israeli lobby, seem like absolutely sweet and warm and fuzzy. Compared to them, Hezbollah is an effete combination of cotton candy and pussy cat (and quiche-lover).
Then of course everybody on all Syrian sides is nervous: the battle for Aleppo is looming. It will probably come after the contest for Homs is settled, which seems to be soon.
Cheers
mhg