Syria has entered a more serious phase in its insurgency.

The brutal violence characteristic of the Syrian uprising so far is on the rise as fighting engulfs Syria’s two main cities – previously unshaken by the conflict.

An explosion in Damascus claimed by Syria’s rebels on 18 July killed four top regime figures. Rebels swarmed out from within Damascus in an effort to take over the city, which prompted a tough crackdown by the country’s military already embroiled in a year-long fight against the armed opposition. 

The intensity of the army’s response was matched by a coordinated push by rebels towards Syria’s capital Damascus and its second city, Aleppo. As both sides mobilised their forces, the most decisive battles in the conflict yet had commenced.

While the Syrian army pushed the rebels out of Damascus shortly after the attack, battles have been raging in Aleppo for well over a week, since 20 July when the city was first hit.

A week before it erupted, rebels had wrested control of three posts on the Syria-Turkey border - a strategic development given Turkey's support for the rebels. If Aleppo falls, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) would gain substantial sway in the north.

Talking to Ahram Online via telephone, Syrian journalist Bassel Oudat discussed the possible results of the regime’s loss of Aleppo.

“A buffer zone will definitely be set up in the north along the Turkish border if the opposition gain control of Aleppo,” said Oudat.

Oudat was referring to the much-discussed possibility of a buffer zone in northern Syria that would provide shelter for refugees and the armed opposition - something Turkey considered earlier this year.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), had urged to set up a buffer zone. Turkey seemed reluctant to take a decision and hinted at the necessity of international support for such a move.

Oudat expressed his belief that direct support isn’t necessary: “The buffer zone - while not having a mandate from the UN Security Council or General Assembly - will nevertheless have tacit Western support as well as direct support from countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” he claimed.

Indeed, the US' National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed a rebel that claimed there is a de facto buffer zone.

“Actually we have a buffer zone now. I mean it's not declared by the Turkish government," said the rebel identified by NPR as Abu Amar.

He adds that the transfer of arms and wounded is taking place with the unspoken agreement of Turkish authorities.

This claim was corroborated by prominent Syrian activist Kahlid Abu Salah. While speaking at the Friends of Syria conference in Paris this month, Abu Salah said “we’re not asking for a buffer zone because we have made the buffer zone ourselves.”

The advantages the rebels would gain aren’t limited to the north but span southwards. Major conflict zones around cities like Idlib, Hama and Homs, consecutive cities south of Aleppo, would be greatly affected.

Salam Al-Kawakibi, Syrian political scientist and director of the Arab Reform Initiative, elaborates on this point in email correspondence with Ahram Online.

“The importance of this battle [in Aleppo] comes from the possibility of imposing a geographic link between many areas controlled by the armed opposition in the Syrian north and making a direct connection with the Turkish borders."

Yet, Al-Kawakibi believes that it is not enough that a somewhat recognised buffer zone exists. “Establishing it in reality needs regional agreements, at the very least, and this is not the case up until the present time,” he stated.

A rebel commander interviewed by Reuters Wednesday asserted that the battle for Aleppo will be won "within days - not weeks,” saying the rebels are pushing through district by district. How close to the truth this is cannot be ascertained, since as the accounts of the army and FSA run contrary to each other.

While the army claimed progress yesterday, rebels have allegedly overrun two police stations – killing 40 policemen in the process – and attacked an air force intelligence base as well as other state buildings, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The strength on the field in an absolute military sense is still in the hands of the regime but it is receding on the ground,” Al-Kawakibi believes. He adds that this, in addition to controlling many border posts, indicates a serious threat to the regime and may be used to enhance the opposition’s negotiating power if an international consensus is reached to hold talks for a gradual transition.