Regime claims progress in quest to break rebel siege of Aleppo prison

Pro-rebel media on Sunday denied reports that Syrian forces had seized a-Ta’aneh hill overlooking the Sheikh Najar industrial area in northern Aleppo, five kilometers east of the Aleppo Central Prison.

The pro-government newspaper al-Watan called Saturday’s campaign for a-Ta’aneh an attempt to “break the siege” on the regime-controlled, rebel-encircled facility.

A-Ta’aneh lies on a critical rebel supply road, Tariq al-Bab, that connects rebel groups fighting block-for-block inside the city of Aleppo with rebel-controlled northern Aleppo province.

As part of the advance, al-Watan reported, government troops also seized rebel-controlled military installations, Air Force Intelligence Branch 606 and the Brigade 80 Base, which previously oversaw the defense of Aleppo’s two airports, one military and one civilian.

Meanwhile, the Syrian air force continued its three-month-long barrel bomb campaign in Aleppo, dropping the makeshift explosive devices Saturday in the largely abandoned neighborhoods of Masakin Hanano and a-Shaar, Aleppo News Network repeated. By Syria Direct