Aleppo has been roughly divided between government forces in the west and rebel groups in the east since fighting first broke out there in mid-2012. Syrian State news agency SANA said the government had declared that operations were still ongoing in the area.
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The Observatory said that although the militants outside the city did reach rebel-held neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo, civilians still don’t have a safe route to leave because of intense airstrikes and shelling in the area.
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.
“Not a single civilian has left the eastern districts because the road is too unsafe and not secured”, Abdel Rahman said.
Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, said in an online statement: “Fighters from outside the city met their brother fighters from inside the city, and work is under way to establish control over remaining positions to break the siege”.
A western Aleppo resident said supplies had arrived.
“Days ago, I was only thinking about how to get a bite to eat”, said Ahmad Adna, a 46-year-old resident of eastern Aleppo.
Airstrikes from regime and Russian warplanes continued to target opposition fighters, local residents and rebels said.
The battle for Aleppo, Syria’s second biggest city, has raged since mid-2012 and is among the fiercest in the multi-front war that has killed almost 400,000 people, according to an estimate by the UN’s chief mediator.
Alloush said the rebel groups put in massive efforts and ammunition into the battle, adding that his group- which is strongest near Damascus- had mobilized fighters from five neighboring provinces to take part.
On Monday, regime troops were forced to redirect food and fuel deliveries to neighbourhoods they control using the alternative Castello Road in the north, SOHR said.
The monitor said more than 700 fighters from both sides had been killed in the onslaught, majority rebels because of the regime’s “aerial superiority”.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and extremist groups.
JFS helped form Jaysh al Fath (Army of Conquest), one of the two main coalitions that participated in the push, in early 2015. “Food is already getting more expensive and the coming days risk being very hard”, said the 34-year-old.
Manbij had been a key transit point along IS’s supply route from the Turkish border to Raqa, de facto capital of its self-styled “caliphate”.
Although the battle in Aleppo is far from over, political and military commentators agree that the break of the siege would be an enormous setback to pro-government forces.
Pope Francis says civilian victims of Syria’s civil war are paying the price for the “the lack of desire for peace by the powerful”.
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The British-based Observatory said at least 130 civilians have been killed since the opposition alliance launched its offensive on southern Aleppo on July 31.
