Syrian rebel groups belonging to the Jeish al-Fatah Operations Room began a military operation against important positions and barracks belonging to regime forces and militias allied to it, most importantly the cement factory and the Jameeat al-Zahara residences.
According to the Jeish al-Sunna, an opposition group, a short time after the announcement of the fourth stage of the operation opposition forces were able to announce they had taken complete control over the cement factory and the nearby water station.
According to the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham Twitter page, the operations began with preparatory fire on the cement factory, which is one of the biggest regime barracks in the Aleppo countryside and one of the biggest gathering places of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
The storming of the factory began after preparatory fire with heavy artillery, Fil missiles and mortars. Opposition fighters then stormed the factory, took control of it, and announced the death of a high-level Hezbollah leader and other fighters.
Coinciding with the opposition beginning to storm the cement factory, other groups began their operations in the direction of the Jameeat al-Zahara district, which is considered a base for foreign militias (including the al-Nujaba movement, fighters from the Palestinian Quds Brigade, and Afghan militias).
Hazeefa al-Sayed, a media officer with Ahrar al-Sham, which is part of the Jeish al-Fatah Operations Room, said that the group’s fighters had used a remote-controlled car bomb to hit the positions of foreign militias in the Jameeat al-Zahara district, with reports of dead and wounded.
Images published by Sayed on his Facebook page showed the car bomb at the moment in which it passed and during its explosion and destruction of a number of buildings in Jameeat al-Zahara.
On August 6, the Syrian rebel groups were able to announce that they had broken the siege on the districts of eastern Aleppo following battles in which regime forces suffered heavy losses in troops and materiel.
The opposition had launched the battle to “Break the Siege on Aleppo” at the end of last month after regime forces took control of the Castello road, which links the eastern districts of Aleppo to the western countryside and Idlib province, up to the Turkish border.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
