Rebel forces in Syria have taken control of “half” of the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, according to a report by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The SOHR said 277 people – including more than 20 civilians – have been killed since the offensive began on Wednesday, the BBC reports.
It is the biggest offensive against the Syrian government in years and the first time rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have reached Aleppo since the army drove them out in 2016.
Aleppo’s airport and all roads leading into the city have been closed, military sources told Reuters.
The rebels have managed to take “half of Aleppo” without significant resistance, SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP early on Saturday.
He added that “there was no fighting, not a single shot was fired, as regime forces withdrew.”
Earlier on Friday, government forces said they had retaken positions in a number of towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, following an offensive launched by HTS and allied factions on Wednesday.
A video posted on a channel linked to the extremist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) appeared to show rebel fighters in vehicles inside the city.
More than half a million people have been killed in the civil war that erupted after the government crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011.
A range of armed groups opposing Assad’s government have taken advantage of the turmoil to seize swathes of territory.
The Syrian government, with the help of Russia and other allies, has since regained most of the territory it lost.
Idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold, is largely controlled by HTS, but is also home to rebel factions backed by Turkey and Turkish forces, the BBC reported.
