Syria army takes major Aleppo district to push battle into ‘final phase’
The Syrian army captured a major district of Aleppo on Monday from rebel fighters, now confined to a small pocket of their former bastion in the city’s east.
The areas still under opposition control are very small, and they could fall at any moment
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces held more than 90 per cent of the onetime opposition stronghold, a monitor said, and appeared on the verge of retaking the whole city.
The fall of Aleppo would deal rebels their worst blow since the beginning of Syria’s conflict in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country’s five major cities.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported early on Monday that the army had captured the large Sheikh Saeed district in southeast Aleppo, leaving only two neighbourhoods under opposition control.
“The areas still under opposition control are very small, and they could fall at any moment,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Britain-based Observatory. “The battle for Aleppo has begun to enter the final phase,” he said.
Syrian official media confirmed the army had recaptured Sheikh Saeed, with state television showing what it said was live footage from the neighbourhood. Overnight and into Monday morning, government warplanes and artillery pounded the remaining rebel-held territory in the east of the city.
An AFP correspondent in the government-held west of Aleppo said the bombardment could be heard from there and was some of the heaviest in recent days. Terrified residents have poured out of rebel-held neighbourhoods as the army advanced since beginning its operation on November 15.
