The “Army of Conquest”, a coalition of rebels and jihadists including the former Al-Nusra Front, said in a statement it would “double the number of fighters for this next battle”.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said about 2,000 pro-regime fighters from Syria, Iraq, Iran and Lebanese Shiite movement Hizbollah had arrived in Aleppo since Sunday night.
“We assure the people of Aleppo that whoever enters his home is safe, whoever enters a mosque or a church is safe and whoever lays down his weapon is safe, too”, said a statement released by numerous factions fighting in the city, including some allied with the Free Syrian Army, the USA -backed moderate opposition coalition.
Aleppo has been a battleground since 2012, when it was stormed by the opposition and divided into a regime-controlled western half and an east under rebel dominion.
“There are no safe routes for civilians in government-held districts to use to get into or out of the city”, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
Bombing by Russian jets targeted opposition forces in the Aleppo countryside after the regime suffered a major setback in its bid to take control of the city, with video footage released by rebels purportedly showing huge fires which they claim were caused by white phosphorus bombs.
The offensive against the government siege of Aleppo.
A spokesman for Jabhat Fateh al-Sham said he was confident they could hold back President Assad’s forces: “The coming days should see an established, safe route that civilians can use”, he told the Telegraph. He said some 700 fighters from the government and the insurgent side were killed in the week of fighting.
Shelling and sporadic clashes were reported from the eastern districts of Aleppo but there were no sign of significant new offensives.
“This is the biggest military and symbolic loss sustained by the regime, the Russians, the Iranians and Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the start of 2013”, the Observatory said, adding that heavy air strikes, thought to be from Russian planes, hit Aleppo on Saturday.
State television said the Syrian air force was carrying out air strikes around the military academy buildings seized by opposition forces.
The Observatory’s Abdel Rahman said the route into eastern districts was open only to fighters and was still not secure enough to evacuate civilians from the area.
The main Facebook page of the Syrian opposition read, “Aleppo created a myth yesterday, and the battle over it entered to the history and to the curriculum of military colleges all over the world”.
It would also give rebels access to armaments stored in the base, which has been used by the Syrian army in the country’s five-year conflict as a centre from which to shell opposition targets.
“Of course I have faith in the army, but I can’t help being scared”.
The developments have rocked the key northern province of Aleppo, a microcosm of Syria’s chaotic multi-front war that has killed more than 280,000 people.
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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Opposition fighters, Islamists and militants have waged fierce assaults since July 31 to end the siege by government forces of some 250,000 people in eastern Aleppo.
