Backed by Russian airpower, Syrian government troops on Friday pushed ahead with a massive operation against terrorists in the center and north of the war-torn country, activists and state media reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government troops were attacking the militant-controlled areas in the southern part of Aleppo, DPA reported.
After receiving military reinforcements, the militants recaptured some bases on the outskirts of the village of al-Sabikya, which they had earlier lost to government forces, according to the Britain-based observatory that relies on a network of activists.
Ousama Abu Zeid, a military adviser to the West-backed group Free Syrian Army, said the militants repulsed attacks by government forces in southern Aleppo.
A Syrian military source told the official Syrian News Agency SANA that the army had started a major military operation in the southern side of Aleppo.
“The army managed to advance into Abteen and western Hadadine,” the source said, referring to two towns located about 15 kilometers south of Aleppo city, the capital of the province of the same name.
Activists in the area said that the southern region of the province had been heavily bombarded by Russian jets before the operation started on the ground.
Deal on Safe Flights
All the key issues of the Russia-US deal on safe flights in Syria were already agreed on and there are only technical points left to discuss.
“A proposed document on safe flights over Syria between Moscow and Washington could become a starting point for closer cooperation between the countries,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said on Saturday.
“We believe that the document that we are currently developing and soon will finalize, it will be a good document. In the current circumstances, it would be a sort of starting point for a possible expansion of our cooperation,” Antonov said at the Xiangshan Forum on Defense, which is being held in Beijing on October 16-17.
Antonov confirmed that all the key issues of the Russia-US deal were already agreed on and there were only technical points left to discuss.
