Several rebel groups, including Ahrar al-Sham, Turkestan Islamic Party, Jabhat Fath al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), Ajnad al-Sham, and the Islamic Front, have all announced that they are participating in the offensive to break through the siege from the southwest.
Local media are reporting that people are burning tires in Aleppo to create a smokescreen in order to prevent Russian and Syrian planes from carrying out airstrikes. Syrian activist Wissam Zarqa confirmed to Associated Press that residents of the rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo had started the fires to reduce visibility over the city.
Rebel forces have also claimed to have carried out suicide car bombings on government troops.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported airstrikes in Aleppo, including barrel bombs dropped from a helicopter on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Bustan al-Basha.
Government forces cut off the rebels’ last route in and out of eastern Aleppo, Castello Road, in mid-July, effectively placing an estimated 275,000 people under siege with dwindling food supplies.
Russia announced last week that the Syrian army would open humanitarian corridors to allow civilians and unarmed fighters to leave the area. Syrian state media reported Saturday that tens of families escaped through a humanitarian corridor but local activists on the ground denied that such routes even existed.
The United States Embassy in Syria accused Russia of using humanitarian aid to coerce rebels to surrender, in violation of Security Council resolutions and humanitarian law.
