Syrian regime forces were on the defensive around Aleppo on Sunday after a rebel alliance said it inflicted a major setback by breaking a three-week government siege of the battered city.
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Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) opposition fighters also seized control of regime positions in Ramousa area in southern Aleppo, opening the route to opposition-held neighborhoods in the city, the source told Anadolu Agency.
Only 35 doctors remain in the city and over 100 people are in need of medical evacuation, SAMS Aleppo Coordinator Dr Abo El-Ezz said in a statement.
News of the rebel advance caused food prices to rise by as much as four times in western Aleppo, the Observatory said.
The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have said conditions in isolated rebel-held east Aleppo have become very concerning.
“The Syrian regime wouldn’t have been able to besiege Aleppo had it not been for the Turkish-Russian rapprochement”, Abdurrahman said.
Ramosa is home to a large military complex, which contains a number of military colleges.
The Observatory group said intense fighting and heavy air strikes meant no secure corridor had yet been established between the two opposition-held territories.
According to Reuters, the claims have been denied by sources close to Bashar al-Assad’s forces and pro-regime media outlets saying that they have driven the militants back from an artillery base.
Syrians living in London also took to the streets to celebrate news of the end of the siege, honking their auto horns and carrying the version of the Syrian flag used by rebels and government opponents.
The rebel advance was aided in part by suicide bombers from the Syria Conquest Front, the new name taken by Nusra Front after it announced it had severed ties with al Qaeda.
The Obama administration is now talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government about a plan to share intelligence and coordinate airstrikes against the Islamic State and other militant groups in Syria, and Putin has thus far met his goals in Syria without becoming caught in a quagmire that some – including President Barack Obama – had predicted he would.
Zunes described the physical destruction of Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city at the start of the war, as well as the effects on its people that too mirror Syria at large.
“We will increase our presence in Aleppo”, he said. Rebel operations and territory is shown in green, government forces in red and Kurdish groups in yellow.
“I sent my sons to school but they are all nervous, and the teachers replaced their regular lessons with courses on what to do if there is shelling”, she said.
He confirmed that it will take only hours to liberate eastern areas and rebels have crossed halfway through liberating the whole city.
It said residents could choose to stay and fight, or flee.
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Seizing full control would be the biggest victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in five years of fighting and demonstrate the dramatic shift of fortunes in his favor since Russian Federation joined the war on his side last year.
