Aleppo (Syria News) Violent clashes broke out between the Syrian rebels and Syrian Democratic Forces militias (SDF), in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, a source told Qasioun News on Friday.

The source said in a statement that clashes broke out between the Syrian rebels and Syrian Democratic Forces militias (SDF) on the outskirts of al-Muhsenli Village, in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo.

The clashes were followed by a mutual mortar shelling, but no casualties were reported, the source added.

Meanwhile, Syrian army forces shelled, using heavy artillery, the residential neighborhoods in Zaitan Village, in the countryside of Aleppo, destroying civilian property.

Yesterday, Syrian regime forces shelled several villages and towns in the southern countryside of Aleppo, without leaving any casualties. </s> Simultaneous advances by Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces into eastern Aleppo on Sunday

BEIRUT (AP) — Simultaneous advances by Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces into eastern Aleppo on Sunday set off a tide of displacement inside the divided city, with thousands of residents evacuating their premises, and threatened to cleave the opposition's enclave.

Rebel defenses collapsed as government forces pushed into the city's Sakhour neighborhood, coming within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of commanding a corridor in eastern Aleppo for the first time since rebels swept into the city in 2012, according to Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Kurdish-led forces operating autonomously of the rebels and the government meanwhile seized the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood, allowing thousands of civilians to flee the decimated district to the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud, in the city's north, according to Ahmad Hiso Araj, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The government's push, backed by thousands of Shiite militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, and under the occasional cover of the Russian air force, has laid waste to Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods.

An estimated quarter-million people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the U.N. warned Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

Residents in east Aleppo said in distressed messages on social media that thousands of people were fleeing to the city's government-controlled western neighborhoods, away from the government's merciless assault, or deeper into opposition-held eastern Aleppo.

"The situation in besieged Aleppo (is) very very bad, thousands of eastern residents are moving to the western side of the city," said Khaled Khatib, a photographer for the Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets.

"Aleppo is going to die," he posted on Twitter.

The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the conflict through a network of local contacts, said around 1,700 civilians had escaped to government-controlled areas and another 2,500 to Kurdish authorities.

More than 250 civilians have been killed in the government's bombardment of eastern Aleppo over past 13 days, according to the Observatory.

Locals reported thousands more were moving within the eastern neighborhoods, away from the front lines, but staying inside areas of opposition control.

"The conditions are terrifying" said 28-year-old Modar Sakho, a nurse in eastern Aleppo.

Wissam Zarqa, an English teacher in eastern Aleppo and outspoken government opponent, said some families would stay put in the face of advancing government forces.

Syrian state media reported government forces had seized the Jabal Badro neighborhood and entered Sakhour Sunday after it took control of the Masaken Hanano neighborhood Saturday.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighborhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of a wide thoroughfare. Al-Manar is operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces' advance into Bustan al-Basha dealt the opposition a further blow.

Rebels and opposition figures have long accused the SDF and its predecessor groups of conspiring with the government to quash a nationwide revolt.

Araj denied there was any coordination between government and Kurdish-led forces.

"We were responding to calls from residents in Bustan al-Basha to secure the neighborhood," he said. He added the SDF had entered the area handily as rebel militants fled.

Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city and commerce capital before its neighborhoods were devastated by the country's more than five-year-long civil war.

The U.N.'s child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment. "Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This is no way to live — and too many are dying." Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo. The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and tens of others wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base. The Observatory said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside. Meanwhile, Anadolu also reported Sunday that the Islamic State group had used chemical weapons against Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters in northern Syria, wounding 22. The report cited a statement by the chief of general staff's office. The report could not be immediately verified independently. Later Sunday, Turkey's emergency relief directorate, which investigated the claim, said it found no trace of chemical warfare. The military was not available for further comment. Elsewhere in Syria, Israeli aircraft struck a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside the country Sunday, killing four Islamic State-affiliated militants on board after they opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, according to the Israeli military. Associated Press writer Cinar Kiper in Istanbul contributed to this report. </s> Terror groups opened mortar fire at a village in the Syrian province of Aleppo, leaving 12 people killed, a source in local police said.

According to police, the Sunday attack has also left 15 people injured. “The armed groups deployed in the Rashidin area on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo fired several projectiles at the southern suburb of Aleppo, which fell in the village of al-Wadihi,” the source said.

According to the source, the attack killed a Syrian serviceman and injured several women and children. The attack also caused significant property damage. Some of the injured people remain in critical condition, so the death toll may further increase, the source added.

Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups as well as militant and terrorist organizations.

In late April, terrorists boosted the number of attacks on the Syrian provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia. They also attempted to attack positions of the Syrian army in the region. The government forces responded by intensifying their attacks on terrorists remaining in Idlib. Last week, Russia initiated an agreement on the full cessation of hostilities in the Idlib de-escalation zone. </s> An explosion in a village in northwestern Syria near the border with Turkey killed at least 29 people including several Turkey-backed opposition fighters, Syrian activists said.

The attack, which was quickly claimed by the Islamic State group, underscored the complex layers of the Syrian conflict, where a civil war between Syrian president Bashar Assad’s forces and the rebels trying to oust him is taking place alongside a militant insurgency and an international war against IS.

Meanwhile, activists in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo said it was calmer yesterday after Syria’s military command announced the night before that it would scale back bombardment of the contested city to allow civilians to leave besieged rebel-held neighbourhoods.

“There were shellings and air raids, but it was less than in previous days,” said activist Bahaa al-Halaby, who was speaking from Aleppo province near the city.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that although airstrikes have almost stopped on the besieged eastern rebel-held neighbourhoods of the city, government forces were pushing ahead in their ground offensive.

The Observatory and state media said government forces advanced in Aleppo’s northern neighbourhood of Bustan al-Basha where troops captured a sports complex and a nearby housing compound.

Meanwhile, Mr Assad denied reports that his government is targeting hospitals and civilian infrastructure.

Syrian opposition activists and international relief agencies have said Syrian and Russian warplanes have been hitting hospitals and infrastructure in Aleppo.

Mr Assad told Denmark’s TV2 station that “to say that this is our aim as a government, (that) we give the orders to destroy hospitals or schools or to kill civilians, this is against our interest.”

Still, President Assad said mistakes are sometimes committed by individuals in any war.

In the explosion in the village of Atmeh at the Turkish border, activists said the blast occurred as opposition fighters gathered near a small restaurant in the area. It also apparently happened during an exchange of forces going to Syria and some planning to return to Turkey.

The blast was caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt. </s> Ismail Abdallah, a member of the Syrian Civil Defence, also called the White Helmets, told CNN that al-Fardous neighborhood has been captured by Syrian government forces, while some areas of resistance remain in parts of the city.

"There is a mass exodus of terrified civilians fleeing from al-Fardous, al-Jaloom, al-Salheine and areas that have been captured today to other areas such as al-Mashhad and Salah Eddiene," he said.

"It is going to be a very difficult situation because there is no place for all these fleeing civilians.

"We believe there are a large number of civilian casualties as a result of this intensifying offensive and White Helmets rescue workers are unable to move to reach any of these areas," Abdallah added.

Syrian state television painted a different picture of the day's events, broadcasting video that it said showed residents celebrating in the streets after government forces took control of a neighborhood. READ: What you need to know about Aleppo Earlier, Syria's state-run news agency SANA and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group confirmed that the neighborhood of al-Sheikh Saeed in southeastern Aleppo had been captured by the Syrian military. The neighborhood was taken from rebel forces with the assistance of government-allied groups. As the situation in Aleppo changes rapidly, CNN will update the map with information from sources on the ground. Large numbers of civilians are also reportedly fleeing the al-Sukkari neighborhood after intense shelling. The exodus of residents coincided with regime forces advancing. The SANA report states that army units are "continuing the operations and targeting the remnants of the terrorists who fled away towards" the al-Sukkari and al-Fardous neighborhoods. In addition, there are reports of civilian casualties as a result of the shelling, according to media organizations with teams in Aleppo. The international community has failed to broker a ceasefire for the city, which appears on the brink of falling back into regime control. The government controls western Aleppo and its troops have made significant territorial gains in the east since its forces entered the enclave by ground on November 27, backed by continual airstrikes. The government has now taken more than three-quarters of the area. Rebel groups held eastern Aleppo for more than four years after the Arab Spring uprising, and a Syrian regime siege on the area had essentially cut it off from the outside world, sparking a humanitarian crisis there. A Syrian family leaves the area following a reported airstrike on Friday, September 23, in rebel-held east Aleppo. Following the airstrike, recovery teams from Syria Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, began working to free the trapped and recover the dead, including small children. This photo was released by the volunteer group Syria Civil Defense of the bodies of a man, with his knee pulled up near his face, and a child covered in dust after they were killed in the airstrike. The volunteers work to recover the bodies the man and child. A Syrian man carries the body of his nephew, recovered from the rubble. The volunteers remove an infant's body from the destroyed building. A Syrian woman carries the body of her infant after he was recovered. Now civilians are fleeing by the tens of thousands as the relentless airstrikes leave little hope of survival. An estimated 10,000 people fled over the weekend, civilians told CNN -- a number backed by Russian officials. SANA put the figure at around 20,000. READ: Syrian regime forces seize most of old city CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen witnessed thousands of civilians walking through the southern front lines, many gaunt with fatigue and malnutrition, as the children among them cried in fear. It's difficult to know how many civilians remain trapped in eastern Aleppo, but 100,000 are estimated to still be living in the enclave. Some are beginning to return to neighborhoods retaken by government forces, faced with the daunting task of rebuilding their homes and communities. </s> BEIRUT: A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab on Friday (Feb 24), killing 42 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

Most of the dead were fighters.

There was no immediate claim for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 69 Turkish losses so far.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday that its rebel allies now had "near complete control" of the town.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

On Thursday afternoon, an AFP correspondent heard intermittent gunfire as rebel units continued to clear the heavily damaged town.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in the fighting in Aleppo province.

West of the second city, which government forces took full control of in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebel fighters.

"The regime wants to reinforce its positions around Aleppo and is using the rocket fire by the rebels as a pretext to bombard their positions and attempt to drive them out of the suburbs," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again". </s> As President Bashar al-Assad's army closed in on the last rebel enclave in Aleppo on Tuesday, Russia, Iran and Turkey said they were ready to help broker a Syrian peace deal. A rebel fighter stands with his weapon near evacuees from the Shi'ite Muslim villages of al-Foua and Kefraya as they ride bueses in insurgent-held al-Rashideen, Syria December 20, 2016.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Channelnewsasia.com. </s> This still image taken from drone footage, posted online by the communications arm of Ahrar Al Sham militant group, purports to show a blast on the ground, apparently the result of an air strike, in a Syrian-government controlled neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria (Ahrar Al Sham, militant video, via AP)

ALEPPO — Car bombs and rocket fire shook Aleppo on Saturday as rebels battled to break a suffocating siege by the Syrian regime, accused by Washington of using starvation as a "weapon of war".

The offensive, launched on Friday, aims to break through a three-month encirclement of the battered city's eastern districts, where more than 250,000 people live without access to food or humanitarian aid.

"In just a few days, we will open the way for our besieged brothers," rebel commander Abu Mustafa told AFP from the frontline district of Dahiyet Al Assad, on the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo.

Fighting and air strikes pounded nearly all of Aleppo's western outskirts, with the most intense clashes reported in the districts of Al Zahraa and Dahiyet Al Assad.

Yasser Al Youssef of the Noureddin Al Zinki rebel faction said opposition fighters opened a new front in Al Zahraa on Saturday with a massive car bombing.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said rebels and allied extremists have unleashed a barrage of rocket fire and at least 10 car bombs since their assault began.

The British-based group said two days of fighting have killed at least 20 regime forces and allied fighters as well as 26 Syrian rebels, but it did not give a toll for foreign militants battling alongside the opposition.

At least 21 civilians, including two children, have been killed in rebel bombardment since Friday morning.

Syrian state news agency SANA said rockets fired by opposition groups on Saturday wounded six people including a child in two regime-held districts.

The offensive has seen more than 1,500 rebels from the provinces of Aleppo and nearby Idlib amass along a front stretching for 15 kilometres down the city’s western edges.

Their aim is to work their way east through a sprawling military complex, then to the district of Al Hamdaniyeh to break through government lines.

Fighting on Saturday was so fierce around Al Zahraa and Dahiyet Al Assad that the explosions and gunfire could be heard across Aleppo’s eastern half, AFP’s correspondent there said.

“There have not been clashes this intense in Al Zahraa since 2012,” when opposition fighters seized Aleppo’s east, said observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said pro-government forces launched a counter-attack on Saturday and managed to recapture several positions in Dahiyet Al Assad, where rebels had scored a major advance.

An AFP correspondent who visited the district saw deserted streets and extensive damage to buildings battered by air strikes and artillery fire.

Syria’s second city, Aleppo has been devastated by some of the heaviest fighting of the country’s five-year civil war that began with anti-government protests and has since killed more than 300,000 people.

Much of the once-bustling economic hub has been reduced to rubble by air and artillery bombardment, including barrel bombs — crude unguided explosive devices that cause indiscriminate damage.

Last week, Russia implemented a three-day “humanitarian truce” intended to allow civilians and surrendering rebels to leave the east, but few did so.

Russia, whose intervention in September 2015 with air strikes in support of President Bashar Assad’s forces was seen as a game-changer, says it has not bombed Aleppo since October 18.

The observatory said Saturday that Russian raids have been battering Aleppo’s western battlefronts, but confirmed the halt to Moscow’s aerial bombing of the city itself was holding.

The Russian military said Friday it had asked President Vladimir Putin for authorisation to resume the raids.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin “considers it inappropriate at the current moment”, adding the president thought it necessary to “continue the humanitarian pause” in the city.

The United States on Friday accused the regime of using starvation as a weapon of war — a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Rejecting Kremlin claims that attacks on Aleppo have stopped, a US official told AFP that “the regime has rejected UN requests to deliver aid to eastern Aleppo — using starvation as a weapon of war”.

Aleppo’s front line runs through the heart of the city, dividing rebels in the east from government troops in the west.

It lies at the crossroads of key transport routes, making it a strategic prize for both sides and a potential bargaining chip for both opposition and regime forces if UN-brokered peace talks are resumed. </s> At least 12 people were killed after terror groups attacked a village in the Syrian province of Aleppo, through mortar shelling.

"The armed groups deployed in the Rashid area on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo fired several projectiles at the southern suburb of Aleppo, which fell in the village of al-Wadihi," Sputnik quoted the local police as saying.

This comes a day after seven people were killed in air strikes by the Syrian government on the northwest province of Idlib.

Syria is marred by civil war since 2011.More than 370,000 people were killed and millions were displaced in Syria and abroad since the beginning of the Syrian war in March 2011.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Violent clashes break out between the Syrian rebels and Syrian Democratic Forces on the outskirts of al-Muhsenli Village, in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, but no casualties are reported.