Amid increasing gains by Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Aleppo, six rebel groups have called for an immediate mobilization including the Al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front and thre Ahrar al-Sham movement.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the groups urged all rebels to unified under one command.
A few hours before the statement was issued, Assad forces had regained control of a brigade in the opposition stronghold of Aleppo after days of fighting, an opposition source said Monday, according to Turkish media.
Salih Anadani, the media liaison for the Tawhid Brigade, said Assad's army also recaptured the al-Safira district and the village of Tel Aran in Aleppo, establishing a foothold in Syria's second largest city.
Fighting near the 80th Brigade in Aleppo has continued for four days between opposition fighters and regime forces backed by militant groups Hezbollah and the Abbas brigade, Anadani said.
Four planes, supported the army's ground offensive against opposition forces lacking air capabilities, killed at least 40 Tawhid fighters in clashes. Opposition fighters meanwhile captured an Iranian officer and destroyed tanks and armored vehicles during the conflict, he said.
Anadani noted that the regime considers the brigade strategically significant because of its proximity to the second-largest airport in the country and an important military base.
Encouraged by the brigade’s capture, army forces continue to shell several Aleppo towns with heavy artillery.
The Syrian regime's recent advances come amid international efforts to organize a conference in Geneva to negotiate a political solution to the nearly three-year-old civil war which has left over 110,000 dead and millions displaced, and has decimated the country's infrastructure.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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