Syria war monitor says rebels control most of Aleppo

BEIRUT: A monitor of Syria's war said on Saturday that rebels controlled most of Aleppo, reporting air strikes on parts of Syria's second city for the first time since 2016.

Fighters have pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Syrian government since Wednesday, as a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, a Damascus ally, after two months of all-out war.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions "took control of the Aleppo international airport" on the city's southeastern outskirts after government forces withdrew, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that rebels also advanced in Hama and Idlib provinces, taking control of "dozens of strategic towns without any resistance".

Overnight, Russian "warplanes launched raids on areas of Aleppo city for the first time since 2016", added the Observatory which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

HTS, an Islamist alliance led by Al Qaeda's former Syria branch, controls swathes of the Idlib region in Syria's northwest, as well as parts of neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said later on Saturday that "at least 16 civilians were killed and 20 others wounded" when "warplanes, likely Russian, targeted civilian vehicles" at a roundabout in the part of the city that has been overrun by fighters.

Syria's army admitted on Saturday that rebels had entered "large parts" of Aleppo and said "dozens of men from our armed forces were killed and others wounded".

AFPTV footage showed fires burning in part of the city after the air strikes, while AFP images showed rebels outside the city's landmark citadel.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that "at this moment, the Syrian regime appears to have been abandoned by its main allies Iran and Russia, with Moscow until now carrying out symbolic strikes".