Rebel forces in Syria have taken control of “half” of the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, according to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the BBC reports.
SOHR said 277 people – including more than 20 civilians – have been killed since the offensive started on Wednesday.
The offensive is the largest against the Syrian government in years and the first time rebels fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad have reached Aleppo since being forced out by the army in 2016.
Aleppo’s airport and all roads leading into the city have been closed, military sources told Reuters news agency.
The rebels were able to capture “half of Aleppo” without meeting significant resistance, SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency early on Saturday.
There “has been no fighting, not a single shot was fired, as regime forces withdrew,” he added.
Earlier on Friday, government forces said they had regained positions in a number of towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, following the offensive launched by HTS and allied factions on Wednesday.
