Syrian regime seizes new rebel district in East Aleppo

Syrian troops and allied forces advanced overnight seizing Aleppo's Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood and now claim to control 60 percent of formerly rebel-controlled East Aleppo.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

03 December, 2016

President Bashar al-Assad's forces have now retaken around 60 percent of eastern Aleppo [Anadolu]

Syrian regime forces made more gains in their offensive to recapture rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo on Saturday, seizing Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood overnight, sources reported.

The attack came as regime forces launched massive bombing raids on East Aleppo, with many injured in missile and barrel bomb attacks on the al-Shaar district on Saturday morning.

"Regime forces captured Tariq al-Bab in eastern Aleppo and seized the nearby neighbourhoods of al-Jazmati and al-Halwaneya after violent clashes with rebel fighters that left casualties on both sides," a local source told The New Arab.

The advance restores control of a road leading from government-controlled western neighbourhoods of the city to Aleppo airport, which the Syrian regime also holds.

"Syrian regime forces gained control of the surround area on the outskirts of Tariq al-Bab but ferocious fighting continues around the neighbourhood as regime forces seek to secure their control of the road leading to the airport," Firas al-Badawi, member of the rebel-affiliated Aleppo Media Centre told The New Arab.

The regime's advances mean that President Bashar al-Assad's forces have now retaken around 60 percent of the east of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said losses made by the rebels were "easily 60 percent".

Meanwhile Saturday's violent clashes has sent civilians flooding out of the adjacent neighbourhood of al-Shaar.

More than 300 civilians have been killed in East Aleppo since the government resumed its offensive to oust the rebels on 15 November.

The UN warned on Wednesday that the sector risks becoming a "giant graveyard" for the 250,000-plus civilians who were trapped there just last week. Tens of thousands have since fled.

The loss of Aleppo would be the biggest blow for Syria's opposition since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests, before spiralling into a civil war.