Syrian Forces Advance in Eastern Aleppo
DAMASCUS (Tasnim) – Syrian military forces intensified attacks against terrorist groups in the city of Aleppo, making advances on eastern neighborhoods of the strategic city.
The Syrian army’s advance on eastern Aleppo follows a siege of the terrorist-held area, where a quarter of a million people are estimated to be living.
Meanwhile, the army has provided safe passages for civilians to flee the terrorist-held neighborhoods, declaring that any individual who reaches the Syrian army positions will be safe and not arrested.
Even armed militants intending to surrender themselves to the Syrian army can get out of the region safely, according to Syrian officials.
Some sources have described the aerial strikes against terrorists in Aleppo as a prelude to a major ground offensive east of the city.
The attacks come after a week-long truce, brokered by the US and Russia, collapsed on Wednesday.
In the meantime, talks between the US and Russia on reviving the ceasefire have broken up without progress in New York.
Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial and industrial hub, has been divided roughly in two since 2012, with the government controlling the west and terrorists the east.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
