(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian Regime forces to launch major offensive on rebel-held areas in northern Aleppo province that will be completely led by Russia, activists and rebel commanders said.
Bashar al-Assad's Prime Minister, Wael al Halqi, said in a meeting with Russian parliamentarians, “We, together with our Russian partners, are readying ourselves for an operation to liberate Aleppo and blockade all illegal armed groups which have not signed up to or are violating a cease-fire,” Russian news agency Tass reported.
Al-Nusra Front had accumulated forces around Aleppo and increased military operations against government troops and civilians around the city, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
Battles between rebels and regime forces in the southern Aleppo countryside have been ongoing for a week.
On the Turkish border, Islamic State militants took back six towns in the northern countryside of Aleppo from rebels on Monday, four days after losing it to a grouping of rebels, Reuters reported.
The ultra-hardline Islamist group seized the town of al-Rai from factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, part of months of back-and-forth fighting in northern Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Zaman al-Wasl reporter said ISIS had also recaptured villages of Tel Sfir, Qantra, Qura Ghouz, Qasajek and Tat Homs after fierce clashes with Hur Kilis Operations Room.
Islamic State has declared a cross-border Islamic caliphate in Syria and neighboring Iraq and is also battling other insurgent groups caught up in Syria's civil war, some of them backed by Turkey and Western powers.
It has made steady gains near the Azaz border crossing with Turkey since last May, but has been pushed back in a number of areas in recent months by rival rebels and regime forces supported by Russian air strikes.
Bashar al-Assad's Prime Minister, Wael al Halqi, said in a meeting with Russian parliamentarians, “We, together with our Russian partners, are readying ourselves for an operation to liberate Aleppo and blockade all illegal armed groups which have not signed up to or are violating a cease-fire,” Russian news agency Tass reported.
Al-Nusra Front had accumulated forces around Aleppo and increased military operations against government troops and civilians around the city, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
Battles between rebels and regime forces in the southern Aleppo countryside have been ongoing for a week.
On the Turkish border, Islamic State militants took back six towns in the northern countryside of Aleppo from rebels on Monday, four days after losing it to a grouping of rebels, Reuters reported.
The ultra-hardline Islamist group seized the town of al-Rai from factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, part of months of back-and-forth fighting in northern Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Zaman al-Wasl reporter said ISIS had also recaptured villages of Tel Sfir, Qantra, Qura Ghouz, Qasajek and Tat Homs after fierce clashes with Hur Kilis Operations Room.
Islamic State has declared a cross-border Islamic caliphate in Syria and neighboring Iraq and is also battling other insurgent groups caught up in Syria's civil war, some of them backed by Turkey and Western powers.
It has made steady gains near the Azaz border crossing with Turkey since last May, but has been pushed back in a number of areas in recent months by rival rebels and regime forces supported by Russian air strikes.
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