(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian rebels said 10 Iraqi Shiite militants were taken captive on Friday west of Aleppo city as rebels launch a large-scale offensive to break regime siege on the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo city, Jaish al-Fateh said.
Zaman al-Wasl reporter said rebel factions led by the Army of conquest have taken control of two checkpoints and al-Cartoon Factory on the gate of Dhahiyat al-Assad, al-Assad Suburb, west of the city.
Jaish al-Fateh in a social media message said ten Nujaba' militia fighters were held captive and many others were killed, adding that senior Hezbollah commander was also killed.
The resistance forces began their major attack with heavy shelling of regime-held areas after a weeks-long Russian-backed offensive against the besieged eastern districts.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that rebels had set off several suicide car bombs on the western edge of Aleppo.
A regime military source said an attack in that area had been thwarted. A state TV station said the army had destroyed four car bombs. Such news was declined by rebels who assured huge losses among regime army ranks.
The rebels aim to break a siege that regime and allied Shiite militias imposed this summer with air support from the Russian air force. The rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo have been subjected to a fierce bombardment since the army declared an offensive to capture the area last month.
"There is a general call-up for anyone who can bear arms," a senior official in the Levant Front rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner, told Reuters. "The preparatory shelling started this morning," he added.
The attack appeared to have been mostly launched by rebel fighters from outside the city against government forces that hold its western districts.
A spokesman for Ahrar al-Sham, a large Islamist rebel group, also said in a social networking message that an offensive on Aleppo had begun on Friday. Factions involved in the attack include Free Syrian Army groups and Jaish al-Fatah, an alliance of Islamist factions, the Levant Front official said.
Grad rockets were launched at Aleppo's Nairab air base, said Zakaria Malahiji, head of the political office of the Aleppo-based Fastaqim rebel group, adding that it was going to be "a big battle" with all the insurgent groups there participating.
Heavy rebel bombardment, with more than 150 rockets and shells, struck districts on the southwest of the city, the Observatory reported. It said more than 15 civilians had been killed and 100 wounded by rebel shelling of government-held western Aleppo. State media reported that five civilians were killed.
The Observatory also said that Grad surface-to-surface rockets had struck Nairab air base and also locations around the Hmeimim air base, near Latakia.
Syria's war, now in its sixth year, pits Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias from neighboring states, against mostly Sunni rebels including groups supported by Turkey, Gulf monarchies and the United States.
Aleppo, Syria's most populous city before the war, has for years been split between a government-held western sector and the rebel-held east, which the army and its allies managed to put under siege this summer. (With Reuters)
Zaman al-Wasl reporter said rebel factions led by the Army of conquest have taken control of two checkpoints and al-Cartoon Factory on the gate of Dhahiyat al-Assad, al-Assad Suburb, west of the city.
Jaish al-Fateh in a social media message said ten Nujaba' militia fighters were held captive and many others were killed, adding that senior Hezbollah commander was also killed.
The resistance forces began their major attack with heavy shelling of regime-held areas after a weeks-long Russian-backed offensive against the besieged eastern districts.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that rebels had set off several suicide car bombs on the western edge of Aleppo.
A regime military source said an attack in that area had been thwarted. A state TV station said the army had destroyed four car bombs. Such news was declined by rebels who assured huge losses among regime army ranks.
The rebels aim to break a siege that regime and allied Shiite militias imposed this summer with air support from the Russian air force. The rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo have been subjected to a fierce bombardment since the army declared an offensive to capture the area last month.
"There is a general call-up for anyone who can bear arms," a senior official in the Levant Front rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner, told Reuters. "The preparatory shelling started this morning," he added.
The attack appeared to have been mostly launched by rebel fighters from outside the city against government forces that hold its western districts.
A spokesman for Ahrar al-Sham, a large Islamist rebel group, also said in a social networking message that an offensive on Aleppo had begun on Friday. Factions involved in the attack include Free Syrian Army groups and Jaish al-Fatah, an alliance of Islamist factions, the Levant Front official said.
Grad rockets were launched at Aleppo's Nairab air base, said Zakaria Malahiji, head of the political office of the Aleppo-based Fastaqim rebel group, adding that it was going to be "a big battle" with all the insurgent groups there participating.
Heavy rebel bombardment, with more than 150 rockets and shells, struck districts on the southwest of the city, the Observatory reported. It said more than 15 civilians had been killed and 100 wounded by rebel shelling of government-held western Aleppo. State media reported that five civilians were killed.
The Observatory also said that Grad surface-to-surface rockets had struck Nairab air base and also locations around the Hmeimim air base, near Latakia.
Syria's war, now in its sixth year, pits Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias from neighboring states, against mostly Sunni rebels including groups supported by Turkey, Gulf monarchies and the United States.
Aleppo, Syria's most populous city before the war, has for years been split between a government-held western sector and the rebel-held east, which the army and its allies managed to put under siege this summer. (With Reuters)
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