The Syrian opposition said Saturday that anti-Govt fighters has broken a government siege on opposition-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo.
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“It is only a matter of hours before we break the siege imposed on our brothers in Aleppo”, an Ahrar al-Sham fighter said in the video as gunfire could be heard in the background.
Fighters from a coalition of Islamist rebel groups called “Jaish al Fateh” announced the start of a new phase to liberate the whole of Aleppo, saying it pledged to increased the numbers of fighters for the battle it said will only end by hoisting their flag on the ancient Aleppo citadel in government hands.
The alliance of rebels said late on Saturday that they had opened a new route into Aleppo’s eastern neighbourhoods, home to some 250,000 people.
Head of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that opposition groups overran a series of buildings in a military academy on the southwestern edges of Aleppo.
Government forces control western parts of Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, and have surrounded the rebel controlled east of the city with the help of Russian airpower. In another report, the Observatory said an air strike near a hospital in northwestern Syria on Saturday killed 10 people including children and damaged the hospital.
Two rebel groups and a monitor said on Saturday they had broken the siege, but pro-government media outlets denied the claim and said the Syrian army was in fact regaining recently taken territory from rebels.
But the Syrian army said it had repelled the assault and inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels. Taking control of the complex and securing the town of Ramuseh, with a large government arsenal, would enable the terrorists to break the siege from the eastern side of the government controlled parts in western Aleppo.
“Despite more than 600 Russian strikes, the regime forces were not able to hold on to their positions”, he said.
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.
The U.N. said there are about 18 besieged and hard-to-reach areas, nearly all encircled by government forces.
He cited in particular the suffering around Aleppo, which is at the center of a battle between the rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.
Russian Federation launched air strikes in Syria in support of the regime in September past year.
“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.
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“Food is already getting more expensive and the coming days risk being very hard”, he said.
