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FRONTLINE: The Battle For Syria

Rebel forces wage a street-by-street assault on the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Courtesy of FRONTLINE
Rebel forces wage a street-by-street assault on the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Airs Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV

As fighting rages in the streets of Syria's largest city, FRONTLINE producer Jamie Doran and correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad journey to the heart of the insurgency, inside the rebel groups that are waging a full-scale assault on the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

Within “liberated zones” near the city of Aleppo, the rebels not only fight the Syrian Army, but struggle against each other in a bitter rivalry between secular and Islamist fighters.

"The Battle for Syria" is an unprecedented portrait of Syria's rebel leaders, the toll of the war on civilians, and the outlines of a potential struggle for power in post-Assad Syria. Also this hour: a look inside the House of Assad.

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Past episodes of FRONTLINE are available for online viewing. FRONTLINE is on Facebook, and follow @frontlinepbs on Twitter.

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Watch The Battle For Syria preview on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

As fighting rages in the streets of Syria, FRONTLINE journeys to the heart of the insurgency, where rebel groups are waging a full-scale assault on the forces of President Bashar al Assad. Within "liberated zones", the rebels not only fight the Syrian Army, but struggle against each other in a bitter rivalry between secular and Islamist fighters.
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Watch The Regime on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Bisat al-rih is Arabic for “flying carpet,” but for those detained by the Syrian regime, it can mean being blindfolded, stripped down to the underpants and strapped to a foldable wooden board. Each end of the board is then elevated so that the victim’s head and feet are brought closer and closer together, causing immense pain in the lower back. All the while, he or she is beaten. Read the full article.
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Channel 4 aired chilling footage of evidence of what appears to be the torture of injured Syrian civilians in a military hospital in Homs. The graphic, grainy video — embedded above — shows wounded patients blindfolded and tied to their beds with rusty chains, with whips and rubber cables lying nearby. It was secretly shot by a hospital employee who provides gruesome details of abuse — including beatings and electrocution — in almost every single hospital unit, including intensive care. Read the full article.