Syrian forces seize north of Aleppo in heavy raid

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The Syrian army and militia allies seized ground north of Aleppo on Saturday, tightening a siege of the city's rebel-held east while warplanes bombed it relentlessly in a Russian-backed offensive that has left Washington's Syria policy in tatters.

The capture of Handarat, a Palestinian refugee camp a few kilometers north of Aleppo, marked the first major ground advance of the offensive, which the government announced on Thursday. The camp, on elevated ground overlooking one of the main roads into Aleppo, had been in rebel hands for years.

"Handarat has fallen," an official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said. An army statement confirming the advance said "large numbers of terrorists" had been killed.

Residents say air strikes on eastern Aleppo have been more intense than ever, using more powerful bombs. Rebel officials said heavy air strikes on Saturday hit at least four areas of the opposition-held east, and they believe the strikes are mostly being carried out by Russian warplanes. Video of the blast sites shows huge craters several meters wide and deep.

"There are planes in the sky now," Ammar al Selmo, the head of the Civil Defence rescue service in the rebel-held east, said on Saturday morning.

The group draws on ambulance workers and volunteers who dig survivors and the dead out of the rubble, often with their bare hands. It says several of its own headquarters have been destroyed in the latest bombing. "Our teams are responding but are not enough to cover this amount of catastrophe," Selmo said.


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