The army said it had foiled the attack on the artillery base and two major barracks and that hundreds of insurgents had been killed and much of their equipment and tanks destroyed.
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Russian Federation had declared it is offering humanitarian corridors for residents in the area, but rights groups said such passages are not neutral and don’t offer guarantees to civilians wishing to use them.
The observatory said at least 30 civilians had also been killed since Sunday in opposition bombardment of government-held southwestern districts of Aleppo.
After capturing the strategic Castello Road last month, which had served as a vital supply route for opposition forces in Aleppo, the regime has been making inroads into the besieged city in preparation for an all-out ground assault.
Heavy fighting has taken place on the outskirts of Ramouseh, a critical district separating the surrounded rebel enclave from rebel-held territory to the west, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Last week Russian Federation announced the opening of “humanitarian corridors” to allow residents and surrendering fighters to flee for government-held territory.
By late Tuesday, there were conflicting reports about who launched the attack.
“The regime is launching counterattacks to absorb the fierce rebel offensive”, said observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
He said that a few hours after kicking off their “fourth stage”, opposition factions were capable to liberate the village of Amiriya and Talat al-Mahroukat.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Syrian rebels push to break siege in Aleppo”.
The leading role of Jabhat Fatah Al Sham – formerly named Jabhat Al Nusra before officially breaking away from Al Qaeda last week – in the Aleppo offensive presents further challenges to any kind of halt in fighting or resumption of negotiations the United Nations might be hoping for. The meeting stressed the need to defeat terrorism, and back “all initiatives that can help to end the crises of the Arab world”, including Syria.
In April a regime air strike on a hospital killed dozens of people, including the city’s last pediatrician. “We’re very clear that Russian Federation has been willing to support a murderous regime, and an individual”, Obama said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On Friday, rebels launched a new offensive targeting a military academy east of Ramussa.
“The army’s successes, especially in Aleppo, promises a great victory”, the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Alaedin Boroujerdi, said during a visit to Damascus on Wednesday. Along with Russia, Iran is a main ally of President Bashar Assad’s government.
This was met with scepticism by residents and worldwide observers, and 35 NGOs in a statement on Tuesday called the initiative “deeply flawed”.
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Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said it was the worst week for attacks on medical facilities in the Aleppo region since the beginning of Syria’s five-year conflict. But the official said there was growing confidence it was such an attack, and that chlorine was likely used. Since last month, Syria has successfully imposed a blockade on rebel-controlled sections of Aleppo, and Russian Federation and Syria have been heavily bombarding targets, which reportedly include hospitals, markets, and warehouses.
