Rebel forces have entered parts of Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, a monitoring group said, in the biggest offensive against the government in years.
The UK-based group said fighters detonated two car bombs before moving on to neighbours, without giving further details.
Meanwhile, the government forces said that they have regained control of the positions that were taken by the rebels in Idlib and Aleppo, Syrian media reported.
The Islamic terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its affiliates claimed to have captured several cities and towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces after launching an offensive on Wednesday.
The monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which uses a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported that Syrian and Russian aircraft carried out 23 airstrikes in the city of Aleppo and its surroundings on Friday.
SOHR said 255 people, most of them soldiers, have been killed in the fighting, the deadliest between rebels and pro-government forces in Syria.
It says opposition forces have taken control of more than 50 towns and villages since Wednesday.
The war that has raged since Syria’s civil war began in 2011 ended in 2020, when Turkey and Russia – a key Syrian ally – cut a deal to halt the government’s push to retake Idlib.
That led to a lull in violence, but sporadic clashes, airstrikes and bombings continued.
Idlib is the last remaining stronghold of the opposition and is home to more than four million people, most of whom were displaced during the conflict and live in dire conditions.
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