PHOTO: Fighters of the rebel bloc Jaish al-Fatah on the move on southern Aleppo front on Thursday


Rebels have maintained the upper hand in battles for areas near Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, repelling pro-Assad attacks and making further advances on Thursday.

Pro-regime accounts have been promising a “major” assault to recapture territory, and the day began with an Iranian-led attack south of the city.

Rebels and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra blocked the assault on Humayra by Iranian units and Iraqi and Afghan militia. Then they counter-attacked and took the village of al-Qurassi to the northeast of Humayra.

Rebels also moved on the villages of Zaytan and Khalasa, but were unable to hold the area because of intense shelling.

Capture of Khalasa would open the way for rebels to attack the town of al-Hadher, one of the biggest gains for regime-Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah offensives last autumn.

A rebel commander claimed 60 to 70 Iranian-led militia were killed during the day.

In the past two months, the rebel bloc Jaish al-Fatah has recaptured most of the territory seized by those offensives, despite continued Russian airstrikes and Iranian-led forces on the ground.

Footage of the advance into al-Qurassi, with fleeing pro-Assad militia and images of those killed (Warning — Graphic):

Pro-Assad Attack Fails North of Aleppo

Later in the day, pro-Assad forces launched the initial attack in an offensive north of Aleppo which, according to regime supporters, will overwhelm the rebels and finally cut off access to opposition-held areas of the city.

The Syrian military and National Defense Forces militia, covered by Russian airstrikes, briefly took Mallah but were soon pushed back by defenders.

Pro-Assad accounts had proclaimed that the arrival of the “Tiger Forces”, led by prominent commander Colonel Suheil Hassan, would be decisive.

Most of the Syrian military has been committed to offensives against the Islamic State in Homs and Raqqa Provinces, leaving the Iranians to hold fronts south of Aleppo.

However, the rebel advances — which have taken the towns of al-Eis and Khan Tuman on the Aleppo-to-Damascus highway as well as fuel and ammunition depots — have inflicted significant casualties on the Iranian units and Iranian-led foreign militias.

Both the Syrian and Russian Defense Ministers were in Tehran yesterday to discuss the situation.

See Iran Daily, June 9: Tehran Hosts Meeting With Syrian and Russian Defense Ministers

Claimed capture of a T-90 tank at Mallah:

T-90 TANK CAPTURED MALLAH 06-16

Rebels blow up a tank near Humayra:

SOUTH ALEPPO FRONT 09-06-16