Syrian Army Captures Parts of Key East Aleppo District
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Syrian military and its allies have gained control of part of a key neighborhood on Aleppo's front line, pushing into the city's militant-held east, Syrian state media said.
"An army unit in cooperation with the supporting forces carried out a 'swift' operation against the fortified sites of the terrorist organizations in Bustan al-Basha neighborhood in Aleppo city," state-run SANA quoted a military source as saying, according to CNN.
Bustan al-Basha is located on the front line between besieged militant-held eastern Aleppo and government-held areas in the center and west of the city. It is the first time the government has made gains in that neighborhood since losing the area to militants three years ago.
The Assad government has long promised that it will retake the whole of the northern city that has become the epicenter of Syria's devastating five-year civil war.
The Syrian military announced it would reduce airstrikes and artillery fire on militant-controlled areas in eastern Aleppo to allow civilians to evacuate safely.
The state-run news agency SANA said the decision to scale back on bombing Aleppo followed "the success of our armed forces in Aleppo" cutting off and destroying all "terrorist supply routes" and "vital terrorist bases."
"The General Command of the Armed Forces has accurate information on the locations of the gunmen and their warehouses in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo," a ministry statement said.
