Syrian
army in swift advance near Aleppo, blocks road - monitor
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[February 17, 2015]
By Sylvia Westall
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army backed
by allied militia has captured several villages north of Aleppo from
insurgents and fighting has blocked a main supply route leading into the
northern city, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.
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A U.N. mediator has been struggling to broker a ceasefire in
Aleppo and government forces had long been expected to try to
encircle it completely, aiming to drive insurgents from Syria's
second city and take control of their main supply road.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
pro-government forces had blocked a road leading towards the Turkish
border as heavy clashes continued there.
The army also took villages including Bashkuwi and Sifat, while
battles raged in Hardatain and Ratain, said the Observatory, which
tracks the Syrian conflict using sources on the ground. It added
that at least 16 insurgents were killed.
Aleppo is at the heart of clashes between pro-government forces and
a range of insurgents which include, Islamist brigades, al Qaeda's
hardline Syria wing Nusra Front, foreign fighters in other groups
and Western-backed rebels.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Feb/17/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png) "It is very important, because if they continue like this they will
completely cut the supply lines for the future. The Syrian regime is
moving forward there," the Observatory's founder Rami Abdulrahman
said.
More than 210,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, which
will enter its fifth year next month, the Observatory has estimated,
with fighting between numerous factions regularly flaring across the
country.
Villages and towns outside Aleppo have passed between pro-government
and insurgent fighters before.
Insurgent-held districts in the divided city have come under heavy
air force bombardment, while Syrian state television said on Tuesday
that five people had been killed and 18 wounded in "terrorist"
rocket attacks in Aleppo neighborhoods.
A television channel run by Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is
fighting alongside pro-government units, reported that the Syrian
army had taken control of areas north of Aleppo. The Observatory
said Hezbollah was involved in the battle.
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The pro-government al-Watan newspaper said on Monday that government
forces aimed to completely surround the city this week in a major
offensive against insurgent groups.
In December mainly Islamist insurgent factions in Aleppo grouped
together to form Jabhat al-Shamiyya -- the Levant Front -- an
attempt at unity among their fighters. Last month the Western-backed
rebel group Hazzm movement joined the alliance after coming under
pressure from Nusra Front.
Recent Syrian army progress in the area has reduced the chances of a
truce between the government and disparate insurgent groups,
diplomats say.
Since October U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura has been working on a
plan to broker "local freezes" in Syria.
(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Jon Boyle and Crispian
Balmer)
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