Syrian National Coalition chief Anas al-Abdeh, in an interview with AFP, also praised a new-found unity among opposition factions that has seen the Fateh al-Sham Front – which used to have ties with Al-Qaeda – join forces with other rebels in the battle for Aleppo.
Advertisement
The statement added that the group “will not rest until we raise the flag of the conquest over Aleppo’s citadel”.
A coalition of rebels and militants surged through regime territory to open a new route into Aleppo’s besieged eastern neighbourhoods, home to about 250,000 people.
Fears grew on Sunday in the government-controlled western half of the city of food and fuel shortages as rebels attempted to surround it.
Rebel and regime forces have fought to control the provincial capital since mid-2012, transforming the former economic powerhouse into a divided, bombed-out city.
“Despite more than 600 Russian strikes, the regime forces were not able to hold onto their positions”.
Rebel forces in Syria claim they have broken through a long-running siege of Aleppo.
Pro-government media outlets denied the siege had been broken and a U.S. State Department official said the situation was “too fluid” to comment.
Addressing rebel fighters across the country, he said the key to defeating government forces was uniting against the regime.
The United Nations Security Council must not allow civilians on both sides of the Syrian city of Aleppo to be cut off from humanitarian aid, the United States said on Monday as Russian Federation accused Washington of politicizing a humanitarian issue.
“Anyone who heads to rebel-held areas will be safe, and we will continue to protect the lives of all Syrians, no matter what your affiliation or background”, the branch of the Free Syrian Army active in Aleppo said.
The military source also mentioned that the Air Force hit and destroyed reinforcement and supply convoys sent from areas in Idleb and Hama to support terrorist groups in Aleppo, destroying those convoys and killing many terrorists and injuring others.
As the veteran NATO Military Committee Chairman Gen. Harald Kujat (German Bundeswehr, ret.) warned on Deutschlandfunk radio recently, anyone talking about defending “rebels” fighting the al-Assad government in Aleppo, is talking about supporting al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, and ISIS.
The agency said 10 civilians were killed on Saturday in rebel shelling on two government-held districts.
The Syrian state news agency said on Sunday morning that the air force was carrying out “intensive” strikes on areas of south-western Aleppo.
Al-Abdah said emergency plans were in place to work with local councils in eastern Aleppo to deliver basic services to the area, which the United Nations has warned faced a humanitarian disaster under the government siege.
Three vans of vegetables crossed into east Aleppo, Abdel Rahman said, but this was a symbolic gesture and the corridor was too risky for civilians or significant supplies to pass.
The bombers, which flew from Russian Federation, killed many IS militants and destroyed some command posts and heavy weapons, the ministry said on its Facebook page.
Advertisement
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.
