The rebels, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, seized most of Aleppo on Saturday and claimed to have entered the city of Hama. There was no independent confirmation of their claim.
Rebel commander Col. Hassan Abdulghani said separately that rebels had also taken control of Sheikh Najjar, also known as Aleppo Industrial City, northeast of the city, the Aleppo Military Academy and the Field Artillery College in the southwest.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was due to travel to the Syrian capital Damascus later on Sunday. He told reporters that Tehran would support the Syrian government and army.
The swift and surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and raises questions about the readiness of his armed forces. It also comes at a time when Assad’s allies – Iran and the groups it supports and Russia – are preoccupied with their own conflicts.
Syrian state television claimed government forces had killed nearly 1,000 rebels in the past three days, without providing evidence or details.
Government airstrikes overnight Sunday on the city of Idlib, a rebel-held bastion near Hama province and 65 kilometers southeast of Aleppo, killed four civilians and wounded 54 others, according to the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, which operates in areas , controlled by the opposition.
According to the Syrian state news agency SANA and a military monitor, the army overnight pushed back the rebels in the northern province of Hama.
Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government reinforcements had established a “strong defensive line” in the northern province of Hama.
The Observatory and Syrian state news network Al-Ikhbariyah also reported Russian airstrikes, both in Idlib and in some of the areas now under rebel control.
In his first public comments since the start of the offensive, published by the state news agency on Saturday evening (early Sunday AEDT), Assad said Syria would continue to “defend its stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters”.
He added that Syria is capable of defeating them no matter how much their attacks intensify.
The Battle for Aleppo in 2016 was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after in 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into all-out war.
After the rebels appeared to be losing control of the country, the battle for Aleppo has ensured Assad’s control of strategic areas of Syria, with opposition factions and their foreign backers controlling areas on the periphery.
