Syrian troops reach rebel-besieged towns in Aleppo

A unit of the Syrian army on Tuesday reached a rebel-besieged town in the province of Aleppo after breaking the rebels' defenses there, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV and local media said.

A group of the Syrian army fighters reached the long-besieged Shiite town of Zahra, in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo, said the report, adding that the achievement came due to the progress the Syrian army has made in the northern countryside of Aleppo on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the pro-government Sham FM said that the Syrian troops succeeded to break the siege imposed on Zahra and the nearby town of Nubul.

However, the Syrian army has yet to officially declare breaking the rebels' sieges on both towns.

The both towns, homes to around 40,000 Syrian Shiites, have for long been besieged by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

The radical rebels repeatedly attempted to break in the towns but their attempts were rendered flat due to the support of the Syrian airforce to both towns and the ferocious defense by its people.

The Syrian troops on Tuesday started a wide-scale operation in the northern countryside of Aleppo in a bid to complete a siege on rebel-held areas in the eastern part of Aleppo, capturing many towns there. Endit