Armed Syrian rebels say they have entered Aleppothe second largest city in the country, for the first time since government forces retook it in 2016.
CNN reports it. “Our forces have started to enter the city of Aleppo,” read a statement from the newly formed rebel coalition, the ‘Military Operations Command’. The rebels had earlier said they had taken control of the Syrian government’s Military Scientific Research Center on the outskirts of Aleppo after “intense clashes with regime forces and Iranian militias”.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions managed to enter the outskirts of Al-Hamdaniya and New Aleppo neighborhoods of Aleppo city,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Meanwhile, the Syrian army has declared that it is repelling the offensive: “Our forces continue to repel the major offensive”, the army says, adding that it has “regained control of some positions”.
Russian-Syrian raids on Idlib, a jihadist stronghold
Russian and Syrian aircraft carried out intense raids on the city of Idlib and its region, the last stronghold of jihadists and rebels in northwestern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Russian and Syrian aircraft carried out 23 raids over the Idlib region,” the observatory said. These raids come as the jihadists and their allies, who control Idlib, have launched a vast offensive against areas held by the Syrian regime, reaching as far as the gates of Aleppo, the main city in the north.