After several false starts and scares, the Syrian army and its allies, backed by Russian airstrikes, have made a major offensive on the city of Aleppo.
Control of Aleppo has been divided among government forces and various rebel groups, including the Islamic State (ISIS), since 2012.
For over a year, Aleppo’s rebel-controlled southern reaches have been in a stalemate. Syrian regime soldiers have been in fixed positions miles from Aleppo city limits, where rebels have maintained defensive positions.
Prior to the civil war, Aleppo was considered Syria’s economic hub, but it has suffered catastrophic destruction since the war began.
On Oct. 18, Syrian activists with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that around 60 people were killed during the Syrian army’s advance in the southern countryside outside of Aleppo. The opposing belligerents, according to the activists, are “rebels and Islamist factions.” The attack took place amid Syrian and Russian airstrikes.
