1st LD: Syrian army captures new rebel bastion in Aleppo

The Syrian army fully captured the town of Ratyan in the northern province of Aleppo, the latest sweeping victory against the militant groups in Syria's largest city, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported on Friday.

The capture of Ratyan is another blow to the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups in the northern countryside of Aleppo, where the Syrian army backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group have been actively progressing, cutting off rebels from key supply lines from neighboring Turkey.

Al-Mayadeen said the army is now advancing into the town of Mayer, to northwest of Ratyan.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Hezbollah and Iranian fighters of the Iranian Republican Guards were backing the Syrian troops in the latest push in northern Aleppo.

It added that the control of Ratyan came after heavy shelling and continued fire cover as well as airstrikes by the Russian and Syrian warplanes.

Capturing Ratyan and progressing into Mayer came after the Syrian army captured key towns in northern Aleppo, namely the towns of Dweir Zaitoun, Hardatnain, Tal Jbain, and Maraset al-Khan, all the way toward breaking the Nusra Front siege on the Shiite towns of Nubbol and Zahraa.

Nubbol and Zahraa had been under the militants' siege for over three years, during which the Syrian jets were dropping aid and food from the air to the trapped people.

Last year, over 200 soldiers and officers were killed while attempting to advance toward both towns, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground.

The ultimate goal of the recent progress and the all-out assault in Aleppo is to isolate the city from its northern countryside and cut the rebel supply lines from Turkey into that key city. Endit