Mohammed Khandakani, a resident of rebel-held Aleppo who accompanied the fighters to the frontline Saturday, said heavy bombing on the aeronautics school resulted in massive explosions.
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Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the rebel action was one of the most significant setbacks for government forces since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
Steadfast regime ally Moscow has provided air support for forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since September 20. Fighters besieged in the city coordinated with the Army of Conquest alliance, which includes the Levant Conquest Front, the rebranded al-Qaida branch in Syria, based in neighboring Idlib province.
An AFP journalist in the eastern districts said one truck of vegetables entered late Saturday to be sold in the markets the following day. He said clashes continued because parts of the Ramouseh district remain in government hands.
A woman flashes the victory sign as she celebrates the news of the breaking of the siege of rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Aug. 6, 2016.
The rebel advance now puts the estimated 1.2 million living in government-held districts of the city under opposition encirclement, he added.
Syrian government troops, backed by Russian air power, completely encircled rebel-held neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo last month, cutting off all supply lines to those areas and leaving them with only weeks worth of food.
“Of course I have faith in the army, but I can’t help being scared”.
“Food is already getting more expensive and the coming days risk being very hard”, he added.
The battle for Aleppo is among the fiercest so far in Syria’s chaotic multi-front war, which has killed more than 280,000 people.
Once Syria’s commercial hub, Aleppo has been divided between government forces in the west and rebels in the east since fighting erupted for control of the city in mid-2012.
A rebel commander said opposition forces were able to capture the Armament School after they detonated five vehicle bombs that resulted in the “total collapse” of the defenses of government troops there.
“The turning point was the fall of the artillery school”, said Islam Alloush, spokesman for the Jaysh al-Islam rebel group and a former Syrian army officer, who said artillery was always viewed as “god of war” in the military.
SANA said 10 civilians were killed on Saturday in rebel shelling of two government-held districts, and the Britain-based Observatory reported the death of a girl in opposition fire on Sunday.
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On Thursday, opposition forces, including Islamist insurgents, launched their second offensive in a week in Aleppo.
