Syrian government forces and rebels fought battles in the center of Aleppo and north of the city on Friday and Saturday (September 30 and October 1), a week into a Russian-backed offensive by the Syrian army to take the entire area, a war monitor and sources on both sides said.
Video distributed by the Syrian military showed what appeared to be close-combat fighting in the area of Bustan al-Basha, a district just to the north of the city center.
Footage obtained by Reuters also showed fighting by Syrian government forces in Handarat, an area north of Aleppo.
Pro-Syrian government forces gained control over the Handarat camp on Thursday (September 29), a rebel official and a war monitor said, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a television station operated by Hezbollah said government forces had also taken the Kindi Hospital area adjacent to the Handarat Palestinian refugee camp, a few kilometers (miles) from the city on Friday.
But rebel sources denied there had been any additional advances north of the city by government forces.
Russia was reported on Friday to be sending more warplanes to Syria to ramp up its air campaign as the United States said it had not yet given up on finding a diplomatic resolution.
Saturday’s airstrikes focused on major supply lines into rebel-held areas - the Castello Road and Malah district - while fighting raged in the Suleiman al Halabi neighborhood, the front line to the north of Aleppo’s Old City.
S/SH 11
string(1917) "[{"id":"1867460","sort":"3635154","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109062994058640_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"VIDEO: Heavy Clashes Erupted between Syrian Army, Terrorists in Old Aleppo"} ,{"id":"1867491","sort":"3635153","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109149188464147_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Syrian Army Starts Massive Offensive in Khan Al Shih in Damascus"} ,{"id":"1867500","sort":"3635152","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109163550370241_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"VIDEO Shows Syrian Army Operation in Northern Hama"} ,{"id":"1867534","sort":"3635151","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109219030519204_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"VIDEO: Syrian Army Launched New Operation in East Aleppo"} ,{"id":"1867577","sort":"3635150","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109286778064074_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"VIDEO: Syrian Army Capture Tal Shuqayf and Nearby Area in North of Aleppo"} ,{"id":"1867604","sort":"3635149","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109328922702750_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Tough Battle Underway between Syrian Army, Terrorists in Western Damascus"} ,{"id":"1867648","sort":"3635148","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109345928463156_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Updated -- Syrian Army Pushes Back ISIS Terrorists in Deir Ezzor"} ,{"id":"1867724","sort":"3635147","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/01/alalam_636109471020599820_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Syrian Army Pounds Jabhat al-Nusra Terrorist Group in Daraa"} ,{"id":"1867908","sort":"3635146","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/02/alalam_636110086952537746_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"FRONTLINE VIDEO: Syrian Army Inches Closer to Retake Northern Outskirts of Aleppo"} ,{"id":"1867913","sort":"3635145","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/02/alalam_636110101825593011_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Major Losses, Causalities on Fatah Al-Sham by Syrian Army in Dara'a City"} ]"