BEIRUT—Syrian rebels and pro-government forces clashed on several fronts around the contested city of Aleppo Sunday as the country’s military command called on militants to lay down their weapons and evacuate the city.
One day after pro-government forces captured the strategic al-Shuqeef hill north of the city, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported fierce fighting in areas close to the hill and the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood, as the government tries to penetrate the city’s opposition-held eastern side.
The two sides clashed inside Aleppo’s southern Sheikh Saeed neighborhood, as well.
The government’s offensive has been accompanied by a relentless Russian and government campaign of airstrikes across eastern Aleppo.
President Bashar Assad’s forces are depending on Russian air strikes and Iran-backed militias to bolster their campaign.
A spokesman for the Nour el-Din el-Zinki rebel faction told The Associated Press that foreign fighters were actively participating in the government’s ground campaign for the city. He said rebels could identify Lebanese and Iraqi militias by their flags.
An airstrike meanwhile targeted a rebel headquarters near the central city of Hama on Sunday, killing at least six militants, the Observatory said. The blow is a setback for the rebel campaign to advance on the government-controlled city.
The U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Stephen O'Brien reported Sunday that east Aleppo’s health system has been “all but obliterated” by shelling and bombardment.
“Medical facilities are being hit one by one,” O'Brien said in a statement that called for at least a weekly 48-hour humanitarian pause to the fighting. The U.N. estimates 275,000 people are trapped in the east by a government siege.
