Syrian rebels seize military facilities from regime in Aleppo, monitor says

But fierce fighting and continuous Russian and Syrian army air strikes in and around the area mean no safe passage for besieged east Aleppo residents has been established.

The UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said there were heavy air raids on eastern Aleppo in the early hours of Monday, while rebel forces shelled government held areas.

As the insurgents took over parts of the government’s Ramousah military complex, which contains a number of military colleges, they broadcast images of the weaponry and ammunition they were taking possession of.

Al-Watan said a Palestinian loyalist militia had sent “huge reinforcements” to Syria’s army battling to defend a cement factory south of Aleppo.

Much of it has been destroyed or looted during more than five years of war.

Rebels opened a new supply route to Aleppo for the first time in three weeks Parade …

“We’ve seen reports but the situation is fluid and we aren’t going to provide battlefield updates”, the State Department official told Reuters.

Although the rebel alliance is dominated by jihadist groups, the Aleppo offensive also includes several groups that have been supported by the West, such as Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki. State news agency SANA said one girl was killed in rebel shelling of government areas near the frontline. July was the worst month yet for attacks on medical facilities in the war-torn country, a medical charity said, with 43 recorded attacks on healthcare facilities in Syria. The city has been divided into rebel and government-held parts since 2012. Syrian government and allied Russian warplanes operate in Syria but it was not known which aircraft carried out the strike.

They still retain stronghold in the area of a cement plant preventing the militants from reaching the city’s eastern areas encircled by the forces, the newspaper said.

The U.N. says there are about 18 besieged and hard-to-reach areas, nearly all encircled by government forces.

Jets believed to be Russian intensified their bombing of rebel-held Aleppo countryside and also hit opposition held Idlib city in north western Syria, rebels said.

The claims of a Syrian rebel victory in Aleppo have been disputed by government news sources.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced almost half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

Videos released by rebel groups claim to show gun battles as insurgents moved into buildings in the complex.

The breakthrough was met with euphoric scenes among civilians and opposition fighters in the eastern districts, but sparked fear of food shortages among residents of regime-controlled western areas. The loss of Aleppo would be a crushing blow for rebels. What is beyond dispute is that the renewed fighting, and the waves of regime airstrikes and rocket attacks launched in response, is inflicting yet further suffering and destruction in Syria’s oldest city.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are on the defensive in Aleppo since an opposition alliance overran key territory south of the city at the weekend. He says, “You should not have allowed this to happen to the people of Aleppo”. It had been the main opposition supply route into the city.

Pope Francis condemned the continued fighting in Syria, saying that “it’s unacceptable that so many helpless – including many children- must pay the price of the conflict, the price of closed hearts and the lack of desire for peace by the powerful”.