1st LD: Syria army recaptures key rebel-held area in Aleppo

The Syrian army and allied fighters fully recaptured a key rebel-held neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, following intense battles with the rebel groups, a military source told Xinhua.

The military forces retook the Masaken Hanano area, following battles with the rebels' Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, during which assorted kinds of weapons were used amid artillery shelling that targeted the rebels' supply lines in the area, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Masaken Hanano is the largest rebel-held district in eastern Aleppo, and was also the first area stormed by rebels in mid-2012.

Observers say capturing the Hanano area will expose the Sakhour neighborhood to the Syrian army, enabling it to isolate the northern part of the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo from the southern one.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, said the Syrian forces were achieving rapid progress in eastern Aleppo, where over 250,000 civilians are trapped.

For months, the Syrian government and Russia have been urging rebels to leave Aleppo, offering them safe passages to other rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The rebels, however, turned down all offers, which has resulted in intensified violence. Endit