"Hezbollah has dispatched another brigade of its forces to Syria who have been deployed just outside the city of Aleppo," the Russian Izvestia newspaper reported on Saturday.

The paper quoted retired Syrian army general Brigadier General Ali Maqsoud as saying that the Hezbollah fighters would move to Idlib to prepare for military operations there after capturing Aleppo city and its surrounding regions; FNA reported.

The Hezbollah fighers are only a part of the forces present in the Aleppo operations, he said.

Other reports claimed that the total number of Hezbollah fighters in Syria now stands at 5,000 with heavy artillery and weapons systems.

No other source in Syria or Hezbollah has confirmed the report yet.

The Syrian army and its popular allies started the long-awaited operation on Friday afternoon to purge the entire city of Aleppo from terrorists.

The Army troops and Quds Devotees popular fighters stormed the positions of Jeish al-Fatah terrorists from three different flanks to take back militant-held districts in Eastern Aleppo.

Syrian government forces used the Southern side of Tal (hill) Seifan in the first flank to attack the positions of Nouralddeen al-Zinki terrorists.

Army forces also stormed militants' defense lines via the second flank in Ba'abadin neighborhood towards Ba'eidin square.

The army soldiers and their popular allies also moved through the Southern side of Tal Ba'abadin towards the Youth Housing Complex and Agricultural School and from South of Manasher Brij neighborhood towards Northeast of Hananou neighborhood to form the third flank of the government troops' large-scale operation against terrorists in Aleppo.

Simultaneous with pro-government forces' offensives from three flanks, army's artillery units shelled heavily terrorists' positions in the region. Heavy shelling has forced the terrorists to retreat from their positions in some regions.

Reports said resistance forces in the first flank have already captured Ba'eidin square that connects the three neighborhoods of Ba'eidin, al-Heidariyeh and Ein Tal and overlooks the entire surrounding area.

In the meantime, army forces and resistance fighter started large-scale attack in Sheikh Saeed neighborhood and managed to advance against terrorists.

The resistance troops' missile units targeted the terrorists' positions in the neighborhoods of al-Mansoureh, al-Rashedeen and Scientific Research Centers in the Western part of Aleppo.

On Saturday, reports said the Syrian army has inflicted heavy casualties on the Jeish al-Fatah coalition of terrorist groups in its major assault in the Eastern districts of Aleppo city, capturing a number of positions.

After hours of fierce clashes with terrorists, army forces have taken control of several positions in Karam al-Tarraf neighborhood in the Eastern part of Aleppo city and western side of Aleppo airport, killing and wounding several terrorists.

In the meantime, at least 11 terrorists were killed in clashes with Syrian soldiers in Bostan al-Pasha in the Eastern part of the city.

The army troop also destroyed three arms and ammunition depots of the terrorist in the Eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.

The army men targeted terrorists' gatherings in the neighborhoods of Hananou Housings, al-Heidariyeh, al-Meisar, A'qyoul and al-Sakhour in Eastern Aleppo as well.

Heavy fighting still goes on between the Syrian army and terrorists in al-Oweijeh and the Syrian air force and army's artillery units are also targeting militants' positions in the same neighborhood.

Army's missile units also launched shelling attacks on terrorists' positions in the neighborhoods of Hananou, Jabal Badrou, al-Hamrah, al-Sho'ar, Zahrat Awad, Jubb al-Qebeh, al-Sakhour, al-Sukri, al-Harbleh and al-Meisar, killing or wounding tens of terrorists.

The Syrian fighter jets also pounded terrorists' centers in Kafr Hamreh, Hayan, Jam'iyat al-Hadi, al-Mansoureh, Qabtan al-Jabal, Naseh and Anadan.

Later in the day, the military sources disclosed that the Syrian Army, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi al-Nujaba fighters are coordinating final steps of a joint large-scale operation to liberate Khan Touman, a key town in Southern Aleppo.

"After liberation of the Air Defense Battalion and its nearby hills, Housing Project 1070 and al-Hikmah School, the Syrian army, Hezbollah and al-Nujaba continued their operations and scored some victories against terrorists and have now deployed their fighters in the Southern part of Aleppo to start jointly a fresh round of offensives to liberate Khan Touman, while the Syrian Air Force has intensified strikes on terrorists' positions in the town," the sources disclosed.

Warplanes also targeted a long convoy of terrorists' vehicles along the Damascus-Aleppo highway near ICARDA farms.

Fighter jets also carried out several combat flights over Jeish al-Fatah's movements from Saraqib in Idlib to Khan Touman in Aleppo, inflicting major losses on the militants.

The Syrian Army troops and Air Force also targeted the positions of Fatah al-Sham Front (previously known as the al-Nusra Front) and Nouralddeen al-Zinki in different parts of Aleppo city on Friday, inflicting major casualties on the militants.

The Syrian fighter jets targeted the positions of Fatah al-Sham Front and Nouralddeen al-Zinki in the districts of Old Aleppo, Bostan al-Pasha, Sheikh Saeed and al-Sukri, leaving a large number of militants dead or wounded.

Army soldiers for their part targeted Jeish al-Fatah's gatherings and positions in the villages of al-Mansoureh and Khawabi al-Assal and the neighborhoods of al-Rashedeen 4 and 5 quarters in the Western and Southern parts of Aleppo.

A number of terrorists were killed and their vehicles were destroyed in the army attacks.

The army also destroyed one of the main positions of Jeish al-Fatah after targeting their sites in Khan al-Assal town, about 12 km Southwest of Aleppo city.

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