Baladi News – Aleppo (Ahmad al-Ahmad)
Informed sources from the regime-held areas in Aleppo leaked news of total collapse of the Syrian regime forces inside the city after losing the first defensive lines in the western and southern sides. The sources indicated that highly-ranked officers, especially from the military academy, fled the city without indicating the destination.
The sources attributed this total collapse to the advance of the rebels in some outskirts of Aleppo, such as 1070 district, as well as some neighborhoods in the western part inside the city.
Activists reported that a huge military convoy was observed heading from Aleppo to Hamah under the protection of helicopters. The activists think that the convoy most likely transports highly ranked military officers including the governor of Aleppo. However, Baladi News could not verify such reports.
Observers liken the fall of the regime strongholds in Aleppo to what happened in Idlib more than one year ago, where the regime forces dramatically collapsed due to the fierce attacks of Jaysh al-Fatah as well as the rebels’ factions, which took control over the whole city in a record time.
It is noteworthy that Jaysh al-Fatah successfully finished the first stage of Aleppo’s grand battle by breaking down the first defensive line of the regime that spanned 20 kilometers from al-Sabiqiyya barricade to the strategically significant al-Hikma school. They also started the next stage that aim at capturing al-Shurfa village in Aleppo southern countryside, which is considered the main stronghold of the Iranian militias south from Aleppo.