Aleppo: Syrian Army rapidly advances in city, seizes several districts as opposition defenses collapse

Today, after intense clashes over the past week, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has made rapid advances on all fronts in the urban sectors of Eastern Aleppo, as rebel defenses have collapsed in the face of heavy shelling and lightning offensives on their positions. Although progress in the densely-packed urban axes of Halab has been slow previously, the SAA and allied forces (Qawt al-Nimr, Liwa al-Quds, Liwa al-Bakr, Suquor al-Sahara) have managed to make incredible progress in the past twenty-four hours, after capturing portions of Hay Hanano yesterday.

The offensive began with heavy artillery shelling throughout the city, followed by aggressive advances on the neighborhoods of Ayn Tal, Ard Hamra, and Jabal Badro. Within hours, Ayn Tal and Jabal Badro had fallen completely, and Ard Hamra followed shortly as elements of Liwa Sultan Murad and Ahrar ash-Shaam pulled back. SAA forces began advancing beyond these locations in an attempt to divide the besieged city into two parts. Rebel forces, having been under siege for two and a half months now, began to collapse and retreat to more secure positions, losing large portions of Haydariyah, Hay Sakhur, and most of the Baadeen neighborhood. Large parts of Hellok Furqani have also fallen. although resistance in this area continues.

Updates will be coming soon as intense fighting is ongoing in multiple areas of the city, and shellfire continues to rain on the besieged areas. Information in this article is attributed to several sources – namely al-Ikhbariyah TV, Halab News Network, al-Masdar News, and military/journalist sources on the ground.