By Saturday, they had taken control of "large parts" of the country's second-biggest city, Aleppo. The surprise offensive prompted the first Russian strikes on Aleppo since 2016, and saw Syria's military withdraw its troops from the city.

A monitor of Syria's war said on Saturday that jihadist rebels now control a majority of Aleppo city, reporting Russian air strikes on parts of Syria's second city for the first time since 2016.The rebels have pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Syrian government since Wednesday,

The Syrian Civil War reignited after four years of docility when a rebel coalition launched a surprise offensive against Syrian government positions.

Rebel forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad have launched their biggest offensive in years this week, controlling a majority of Syria's second city of Aleppo according to a monitor.

Scores of people were killed after forces opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad overtook a Syrian military base, a monitoring group reported.

Syria state media say government troops are battling insurgents inside the country’s largest city Aleppo for the first time since 2016

A rebel commander said a fall in Iran-backed manpower created an opening this week's assault. Iran's ally Hezbollah has suffered big losses to Israel.

A new assault on Syrian regime forces reached the major city, according to rebels and a war monitor. Government warplanes struck back at rebel territory.

The lightning assault on Aleppo by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham abruptly redrew the front lines of Syria’s civil war.

The Syrian military said on Saturday that rebels had entered large parts of Aleppo city during an offensive in which dozens of soldiers had been killed, forcing the army to redeploy - the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.