Meanwhile, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters seized most of Manbij – a key Syrian city – from so-called Islamic State. “Food is already getting more expensive and the coming days risk being very hard”, said the 34-year-old.
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A doctor in rebel-held Aleppo, Farida, who declined to give her last name out of concern for the safety of her family in government held-areas, said an intense bombing campaign is taking place inside the city.
A witness said people in the streets of a part of eastern Aleppo briefly celebrated reports of the siege being broken before the sight of warplanes in the sky scattered them.
“Rebels break Aleppo’s siege”, tweeted the Istanbul-based opposition National Coalition.
On Saturday, anti-regime groups overran a series of buildings in a military academy on the southwestern edges of Aleppo.
The agency said 10 civilians were killed on Saturday in rebel shelling on two government-held districts.
“Our armed forces took control of the part of the artillery school that had been seized by terrorists. while (rebel) groups withdrew from points in the armament school”, it said, citing a military source.
A monitoring group backs up the reports, however pro-government media outlets deny the siege has been broken.
“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.
The tomatoes and potatoes were destined for markets in rebel-held districts, which had seen prices skyrocket since the siege began.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the development was one of the most significant setbacks for government forces since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
“This is an existential battle”. He said some 700 fighters from the government and the insurgent side were killed in the week of fighting.
The Britain-based Observatory said at least 130 civilians have been killed since the opposition alliance launched its offensive on southern Aleppo on July 31.
Some rebel groups refer to the Aleppo battle as the “Ibrahim al-Youssef Offensive”, a reference to a Sunni army officer said to have led a massacre of cadets at the Artillery College in the late 1970s.
Fearful residents of western districts watched the news on television screens in street cafes.
“Of course I have faith in the army, but I can’t help being scared”.
“Despite more than 600 Russian strikes, the regime forces were not able to hold onto their positions”, he said.
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A quarter of a million civilians are thought to still live in Aleppo’s opposition-controlled eastern neighborhoods, effectively under siege since the army and allied militia cut off the last road into rebel districts in early July.
