Between 5,000 and 12,000 "Islamist fighters" are involved in the offensive; however, the already high casualty rate has had a demoralizing effect on the armed Syrian Opposition, causing its commanders to redraw plans to reach besieged rebel-held districts in Aleppo city.

Most of casualties are for factions of Jaish al-Fateh and the Fatah Halab due to the Syrian Arab Army and aligned paramilitary forces carrying out a series of tactical retreats in order to maximize casualties within rebel ranks.

Little to no ground combat has been observed in southwestern Aleppo thus far today as commanders of ‘Jaish al-Fatah’ and the ‘Fatah Halab operations room’ have decided to abandon a preplanned six-stage offensive to review future military manuevers in the region.

Meanwhile, a military source told Al-Masdar News that the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) had conducted over 100 airstrikes in Aleppo’s countryside in the past 24 hours – the Russian Air Force is also highly active in the region as we speak.

The majority of government air raids targeted rebel-held positions at Khan Assal, Mansourah, Marata, Zarbeh, Dahret Abd Rabo, Khan Touman and Urum Kubrah; these villages are located a few kilometers behind the actual frontline itself.

Rumours suggest Jaish al-Fatah and Fatah Halab are preparing new VBIED’s (suicide bombing vehicles) to spearhead the next wave of attacks on Aleppo.

Ultimately, terrorists factions hope to break the siege on rebel-held eastern Aleppo by breaking through the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) positions south of Aleppo city.

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