Forces of the syrian Government are moving ahead on new fronts of attack, in Aleppo – swissinfo.ch

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The forces of the syrian Government and its allies mobilized Tuesday to new fields of battle in Aleppo, after attack on four fronts in their largest assault since they launched a campaign last week to retrieve all of the city, said a senior official rebel.

As part of the offensive, Government forces moved against the insurgents in the Old City of Aleppo on Tuesday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the conflict.

An important official rebel of a faction based in Aleppo said there were clashes in the area Suweiqa of the city, though not reported any progress of the Government. Syrian state television reported an advance of the forces official near the Old City.

Previously, a commander of an iraqi militia that is fighting in favor of the syrian Government told Reuters that a significant group of Army led by an elite unit known as Nimr, or Forces Tiger, had begun to mobilize armored vehicles, and tanks for an attack on eastern districts of Aleppo in the hands of the rebels.

The pro-Government forces attacked at the same time near the camp Handarat, north of Aleppo; in the vicinity of the area of the Hospital, Kindi, in the district of Rashidin in the centre; and another area southwest of the city. On Saturday, the Government captured briefly Handarat but returned to lose the ground in a counter-attack rebel a few hours later.

The official rebel said that the simultaneous attacks had been repelled, but that the forces pro-government were also being deployed in two other areas near the district of Sheikh Saeed, under the dominion of the insurgents, to the south of the city.

“Today (Tuesday), another question news is the strong use of helicopters, pumps, and barrel,” said the official, a rebel faction based in Aleppo.

The military syrians, aided by militias affiliated to shi’a supported by Iran and the Russian air force, launched on Thursday a major campaign to recover the eastern areas of Aleppo, dominated by rebelling.

(Reporting by Tom Perry and Laila Bassam; additional Reporting by John Davison; Edited in Spanish by Ana Laura Mitidieri)