Roundup: Syria's Jaish al-Fateh rebels announce plans to capture all Aleppo city

The Jaish al-Fateh rebel group announced Sunday that their next target is to capture the entire city of Aleppo, a day after they scored some victory against the government forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

In a statement, Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, boasted what they called the victory they made against the government forces, when they managed to storm some military installations on Saturday in the southern countryside of Aleppo.

The group also claimed that they had broken the three-week-long siege by the government forces on rebel-held areas in the eastern part of Aleppo city.

"Since the Assad army besieged hundreds of thousands of civilians in Aleppo, the people there cried out for help from the mujahideen, and your brothers in the Jaish al-Fateh answered their calls," said a statement released by the group.

It said that the group had galvanized all support and fighters and carried out an "epic" battle to lift the siege on Aleppo.

"The Assad regime didn't expect that the siege on Aleppo will be broken in six days only... and we in Jaish al-Fateh say... that we have broken the siege on Aleppo," it said.

It added that "we declare the beginning of a new phase to liberate Aleppo, and we will multiply the numbers of our fighters to be ready for the upcoming battle."

The group tried to pacify the people in government-controlled areas, saying they will not hurt anyone who didn't support the regime.

It also urged the Syrian soldiers to defect from the Syrian army, saying "the repentance door is opened, but not for long."

Jaish al-Fateh, an alliance of several rebel factions, was formed in March 2015 under the supervision and coordination of Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini.

Some of its factions are active in the provinces of Hama and Latakia. The group seized most of Idlib province in northwestern Syria last year and it is actively supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Earlier in the day, Syrian army warplanes carried out several airstrikes against rebel posts they had captured a day earlier in southern Aleppo.

The airstrikes targeted the rebels' artillery and armament bases in the southwest of Aleppo, a military source told Xinhua.

The rebels were believed to have taken control over parts of the strategic al-Ramuseh town, enabling them to fashion a military passageway into eastern Aleppo.

However, through controlling this strategic part of al-Ramuseh, the government-controlled western part of Aleppo was placed under siege, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said grocery prices in western Aleppo have increased fourfold since the rebels captured parts of al-Ramuseh just the day before.

It said, however, that the route opened by the rebels into eastern Aleppo is not safe.

Nonetheless, the military source told Xinhua that the government is still in control of a route into districts of western Aleppo, adding that the rebels' route into eastern Aleppo is quite narrow.

The situation in Aleppo flared up last month, when government forces unleashed an offensive in the north of Aleppo, severing the Castello road which is the last rebel-controlled supply route into eastern Aleppo.

The offensive triggered a violent retaliation from the rebels, who subsequently unleashed at least seven attacks against government posts in southern Aleppo in an effort to end the siege.

Meanwhile, Syria's national television station said the army is determined to drive out the rebels from the bases they stormed into on Saturday.

The pan-Arab al-Mayadeen television station also reported heavy airstrikes on Sunday, adding that over 800 rebels were killed during the three-day battle at military colleges in Aleppo.

Aleppo is strategic for all warring parties, due to its key location beside the Turkish border, and as Syria's industrial capital.

Further complicating the situation is the large presence of rebel groups, each supported by a foreign country, mainly a Gulf state.

The United States has also identified "moderate" rebels located in Aleppo.

The battle of Aleppo is a rather decisive one, as observers declared that whoever controls Aleppo will gain the upper hand in any potential settlement in Syria. Endit