Syrian army and allied Iranian and Hezbollah forces are preparing a ground offensive in Aleppo 41410151
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The conflict in Syria
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| Syrian army and allied Iranian and Hezbollah forces are preparing a ground offensive in Aleppo | |||
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The Syrian army and allied Iranian and Hezbollah forces are preparing for a ground offensive against insurgents in the Aleppo area backed by Russian air strikes, two senior regional officials familiar with the plans said on Tuesday.
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 Iranian troops in Syria for joint offensive |
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The offensive would expand on a ground attack launched by the same alliance last week that is targeting rebels in Hama province further west. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said thousands of Iranian troops had arrived to take part in the ground offensives in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
A big government offensive in the area near the Turkish border is likely to further anger NATO member Ankara, which has backed insurgents fighting Assad and has already expressed deep concern over Russian air strikes that have targeted them. "The big battle preparations in that area are clear," said one of the officials. "There is a large mobilisation of the Syrian army ... elite Hezbollah fighters, and thousands of Iranians who arrived in stages in recent days," said the official. A general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hossein Hamedani, was killed in Aleppo province while advising the Syrian army on their battle against Islamic State in the area, the guards said on Friday. (Source: reuters) |
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