page_title: Operation Canopus Star
section_title: Eastern Aleppo battles
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Canopus Star / The operation / Eastern Aleppo battles
caption_attribution_description: English: A simplified version of the 2nd Aleppo Offensive (Operation Canopus Star). Created in gimp 2.8. Influenced by many maps from creators: MrPenguin20, PetoLucem, and so on.
context_page_description: Operation Canopus Star was an operation launched by the Syrian Army, supported by Hezbollah and other allied militias, during the Syrian Civil War, following a successful offensive which re-established the military's supply route between Aleppo and central Syria. The aim of the operation was to encircle Aleppo and cut rebel supply lines into the city, thus besieging rebel-held areas.
context_section_description: On 11 January 2014, government forces secured the area of al-Naqqarin and Sheikh Yusuf hill and were advancing towards the industrial area of Aleppo city. According to opposition activists, the rebels were in fear of losing the industrial district, which would cut their supply lines from Turkey. The next day, the Army also advanced towards the highway linking the airport to the government-held western part of the city.
  On 14 January, the Army reportedly captured al-Zarzour, al-Taaneh, al-Subeihieh and Height 53 on the eastern outskirts of Aleppo. On 15 January, an Al-Manar correspondent reported that the Army captured al-Sabaheyya, al-Faory and Tal-Riman, east of Al-Safira, and was pushing towards the electricity station, northeast of Al-Safira. Later, Al-Manar claimed that the Army captured Tall Alam and Huwejna, east of Aleppo, also on the approaches to the electricity station. At the same time, government troops pushed out of Kweires military airport, east of Aleppo and the station, and captured villages around the base.
  On 17 January, the Army bombarded the villages of Tal-Na'am, Jobul and Tal-Estabel and captured the village of Tal-Sobeha. By 18 January, it was confirmed government troops captured the town of Tall Alam, just west of the power plant. Sheikh Zayat, on the southern outskirts of the industrial zone, was also captured.
  On 21 January, clashes took place around the village of Balat, accompanied by an air raid on the village.
  On 22 January, the Army made an attempt to advance on the central Aziziyeh district of Aleppo city. At the same time, the town of Aziza, on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, came under rebel attack which was continuing as of 24 January. On 25 January, the Army captured the neighborhood of Karam Al Qasr on the eastern side of Aleppo city, after three days of fighting.
  On 27 January, fighting was renewed in the area of the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo's Old City, as the rebels claimed of destroying a Hezbollah base at Mount Hoihna and capturing most of the buildings in the town Maarath Al-Artik, on Aleppo's northwest outskirts.
  On 28 January, rebels captured the Maarath Al-Artik mountain, which the Army used to shell nearby rebel-held towns. On the same day, the Army made more advances and seized the districts of Ballura and Kasr al-Tarrab, according to the pro-government al-Watan newspaper. It too said that an operation had been launched from Nairab airport in the east, as well as Aziza village in the south, while adding that troops had reached the outskirts of Mayssar, a rebel bastion in southeast Aleppo. At the same time, the SOHR confirmed the military captured the Karm al-Qasr district, on the southeastern edge of Aleppo, and reported that residents of Mayssar, Marjeh and Enzarrat districts were fleeing their homes for "neighbourhoods controlled by regime forces because of the fighting".
  During the month of January, government forces also pushed into the Old City district of Aleppo and captured the Farafra area.
  On 2 February, the Al-Watan newspaper announced that the Army captured most of the eastern Karam al-Turab district of Aleppo.
  On 16 February, government forces captured the village of Sheikh Najjar, south of the industrial zone, as well as Talet al-Ghali, on the eastern outskirts of Aleppo. On 19 February, rebels claimed to had recaptured Sheikh Najjar, while, the SOHR stated it was unclear who controlled the area. The next day, the Army re-secured Sheikh Najjar and captured two strategic hills that overlook the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, al-Ghalia and Syriatel.
  On 24 February, the Army made progress in the Sheikh Najjar industrial zone, with rebels sending reinforcements to the area. The military was attempting to capture strategic areas in Sheikh Najjar that overlook the outskirts of the Aleppo central prison, which had been under a rebel siege for over a year. The Army hoped to station artillery at those positions to help fend off attacks on the prison. The next day, the military captured the factory of the Zanoubia ceramic company in the southern al-Sheikh Sa'id distri
caption: Map of the offensive
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