Syrian regime forces edged forward in the northern province of Aleppo on Saturday with air cover from Russian warplanes, but faced fierce resistance from rebel forces in the country's center, AFP reported.
A Syrian military source told AFP that troops had advanced to within six kilometers (less than four miles) of Kweyris military airport, east of Aleppo city, which has been under siege by fighters of the ISIS group.
If the army succeeds in securing the airbase, it could be used by Russia planes -- currently flying out of the Hmeimim base in Latakia province on the Mediterranean coast -- to launch sorties and strikes, the Syrian Observatory for human Rights said.
Syrian Revolution Co-ordinations said rebels on Friday had taken back tank battalion base and villages of Abtin, al Muhaira, al Sabiqiya and al Kassarat that were captured by regime forces.
Also, rebels had hit one army tank with a U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missile in Jebel Azzan, about 12 km (8 miles) south of Aleppo city, activists said.
A U.S. official said as many as 2,000 fighters from Iran and its regional allies were supporting the army's offensive in coordination with Russia.
Since Russia launched air strikes on Sept. 30 in support of Bashar al-Assad, the army has waged offensives against insurgent-held regions in western Syria, including a rebel pocket north of Homs and areas of Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces taken by the rebels over the summer.
Three senior Nusra members, one of them a U.S.-designated "global terrorist", were killed in an air strike in Aleppo province on Thursday, a monitoring group said.
Regime forces control the western part of Aleppo city -- Syria's pre-war economic hub -- but much of the surrounding province is held by rebel groups -- Al-Qaeda and others in the west and ISIS in the east.
Since the offensive began on Thursday, at least 72 people have been killed in Homs province, nearly half of them civilians, the Observatory said.
In total, more than 250,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since it began in March 2011. (With Agencies)
A Syrian military source told AFP that troops had advanced to within six kilometers (less than four miles) of Kweyris military airport, east of Aleppo city, which has been under siege by fighters of the ISIS group.
If the army succeeds in securing the airbase, it could be used by Russia planes -- currently flying out of the Hmeimim base in Latakia province on the Mediterranean coast -- to launch sorties and strikes, the Syrian Observatory for human Rights said.
Syrian Revolution Co-ordinations said rebels on Friday had taken back tank battalion base and villages of Abtin, al Muhaira, al Sabiqiya and al Kassarat that were captured by regime forces.
Also, rebels had hit one army tank with a U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missile in Jebel Azzan, about 12 km (8 miles) south of Aleppo city, activists said.
A U.S. official said as many as 2,000 fighters from Iran and its regional allies were supporting the army's offensive in coordination with Russia.
Since Russia launched air strikes on Sept. 30 in support of Bashar al-Assad, the army has waged offensives against insurgent-held regions in western Syria, including a rebel pocket north of Homs and areas of Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces taken by the rebels over the summer.
Three senior Nusra members, one of them a U.S.-designated "global terrorist", were killed in an air strike in Aleppo province on Thursday, a monitoring group said.
Regime forces control the western part of Aleppo city -- Syria's pre-war economic hub -- but much of the surrounding province is held by rebel groups -- Al-Qaeda and others in the west and ISIS in the east.
Since the offensive began on Thursday, at least 72 people have been killed in Homs province, nearly half of them civilians, the Observatory said.
In total, more than 250,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since it began in March 2011. (With Agencies)
Zaman Al Wasl
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