Clashes on edge of Aleppo after siege break

Anti-government groups overran a series of buildings in a military academy on the south-western edges of Aleppo, a day after an alliance of rebels and extremists said it had opened a route into the city's besieged eastern neighbourhoods, home to about 250,000 people.

Syrian civil defence volunteers, known as the White Helmets, celebrate in an Aleppo street on August 6 after rebels said they had broken a three-week government siege on the city. Thaer Mohammed / AFP

BEIRUT // Sporadic clashes took place along the southern edges of Aleppo on Sunday morning, hours after rebels claimed they had broken a three-week government siege of the Syrian city.

An alliance of rebels and extremists said it had opened a route into Aleppo’s eastern neighbourhoods, home to about 250,000 people.

But the road, which passed through southern edges of the city, remained too dangerous for civilians to use, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

“There are intermittent clashes and air strikes, but to a lesser degree,” he said.

“Not a single civilian has left the eastern districts because the road is too dangerous and not secured.”

On Saturday, anti-government groups overran a series of buildings in a military academy on the south-western edges of Aleppo.

They then pushed north-east into the district of Ramussa and linked up with rebel groups that had fought south from inside the city.

Rebels posted footage of their fighters embracing and celebrating the end of the government encirclement of Aleppo, in place since July 17.

A journalist in the eastern districts said a lorry of vegetables entered the neighbourhoods late on Saturday to be sold the following day.

Syrian state media denied that the siege had been broken and said the battle was ongoing.

“The terrorist groups are suffering huge losses and were not able to break the encirclement of the eastern neighbourhoods of Aleppo,” state news agency Sana said on Saturday. “The Syrian army in coordination with allied forces are continuing their fight south of Aleppo.”

The agency said 10 civilians were killed on Saturday in rebel shelling on two government-held districts.

The observatory said at least 130 civilians have been killed since the opposition alliance launched its offensive on southern Aleppo on July 31.

The monitor said more than 700 fighters from both sides had been killed, most of them rebels because of the government’s “aerial superiority”.

* Agence France-Presse