Syrian state media said the army and allied forces had taken an area south of Aleppo, severing the sole route left into the eastern neighbourhoods held by the opposition.
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The British-based Observatory said the retaken areas included the Weaponry College and the Air Force Technical College in Aleppo’s southwestern outskirts. Rebels captured the complex in August in an assault that broke through the first government siege of eastern Aleppo.
The rebel-held eastern half of Syria’s largest city was once again cut off by government advances on Sunday, a monitoring group said, as attempts by the USA and Russian Federation to close a deal on the Syrian conflict faltered.
Later, the source said an army unit targeted on Sunday gatherings of terrorists in al-Bajabjeh neighborhood in Daraa al-Balad area in Daraa city, leaving 8 of them dead and a number of their vehicles destroyed.
Once Syria’s economic powerhouse, Aleppo city has been ravaged by the war that began with protests against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.
Russian support has turned the war in Assad’s favor in many areas, although rebels have made some gains, including in Hama province, further south.
A spokesman for rebel group Jaish al-Nasr, Mohammed Rasheed, told Reuters that rebels had launched a push to try and capture the town of Maan, north of the province capital, Hama city.
Turkey views the Kurds as a threat and the Turkey-backed forces have clashed with them outside Jarablus.
Ankara fears that advances by the Kurdish YPG militia, which has been one of the most effective partners for the USA coalition fighting IS, will embolden Kurdish militants on its own soil.
President Barack Obama said the United States and Russian Federation were working on Sunday to try to finalise a ceasefire in Syria that would allow more deliveries of humanitarian aid in the war-torn country.
Kerry then listed two main priorities to ensure any new ceasefire holds: responding to violations by the Damascus government and checking the rising influence of the former al-Nusra Front.
The development leaves about 250,000 people living in rebel-controlled parts of the city cut off from the outside world once again, and will raise new fears about a humanitarian crisis in Aleppo.
According to the United Nations, almost 600,000 live under siege across Syria, most by government forces, although both rebels and jihadists also use the tactic.
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Kerry said he would not rush into any agreement just to see it fail again.
