Syrian government forces seized the only route into rebel-held areas of northern Aleppo in July, sparking a counter-offensive by the rebels from the city’s south.
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The al-Qaida affiliate now known as the Levant Conquest Front (LCF) pushed government forces and allied fighters out of a number of military colleges, a warehouse, a bakery, a vehicle park and a section of a major road in the southern Ramouseh district where fighting has raged for a week.
More than 700 fighters from both sides had been killed in the onslaught, majority rebels because of the regime’s “aerial superiority”, it said.
The Observatory, in its report on the Aleppo fighting, said rebels had taken control of the Weaponry College, the main Artillery College, the Air Force Technical College and the Ramousah Garage area.
It showed a large cache of Western arms and ammunition, most of which appeared to be of USA origin, including an anti-tank missiles system (TOW 2A), UN0181 missiles and 81mm mortars and ammunition.
But battles flared as several rebel groups in Aleppo unleashed repeated attacks to break that siege.
Rebel and regime forces had fought for control of Aleppo since mid-2012.
A doctor in rebel-held Aleppo, Farida, who declined to give her last name out of concern for the safety of her family in government held-areas, said an intense bombing campaign is taking place inside the city.
Meanwhile, at least 10 people have been killed in air strikes on a hospital in northwestern Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province.
But the route remains open only to military movements, and “not a single civilian has left the eastern districts because the road is too risky and not secured”, Abdel Rahman said.
The monitor said more than 700 rebels and government fighters had been killed in since the offensive began on Sunday, including 200 on Saturday alone.
The former Al-Nusra Front, renamed the Fateh al-Sham Front after breaking from Al-Qaeda, said on Saturday that rebels from inside Aleppo city had linked up with others on the outskirts.
Fearful residents of western districts watched the news come in on television screens in street cafes.
“The airstrikes paralyzed the movement of the terrorist groups southwest of Aleppo, cutting by fire all routes into the city”, said the TV.
“Of course I have faith in the army, but I can’t help being scared”, said a 34-year-old resident of a government-held area.
The complex, multi-sided civil war in Syria, raging since 2011, has drawn in regional and global powers, caused the world’s worst humanitarian emergency and attracted recruits to Islamist militancy from around the world.
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Shortly before sunset Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said that militants were able to reach besieged areas.
