Hundreds of people in Syria's Aleppo have fled to areas under government control, a monitoring group said Sunday, as pro-government forces press on with an assault that has laid waste to the city's opposition neighborhoods.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 400 evacuees sought refuge in the Masaken Hanano neighborhood, captured by pro-government forces Saturday, and that an additional 30 families fled to Sheikh Maqsoud, which is under Kurdish control.

Syrian state media reported that hundreds of families had vacated areas under rebel control.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighborhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of the street. Al-Manar is a media outlet affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city and commerce capital before its neighborhoods were devastated by the country's more than five-year-long civil war.

An estimated 275,000 people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the U.N. warned Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

The U.N.'s child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

"Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This is no way to live — and too many are dying."

Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and tens of others wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The Britain-based Observatory said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.</s>Hundreds of people in Syria's Aleppo have fled to areas under government control, a monitoring group said Sunday, as pro-government forces press on with an assault that has laid waste to the city's opposition neighborhoods.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 400 evacuees sought refuge in the Masaken Hanano neighborhood, captured by pro-government forces Saturday, and that an additional 30 families fled to Sheikh Maqsoud, which is under Kurdish control.

Syrian state media reported that hundreds of families had vacated areas under rebel control.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighborhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of the street. Al-Manar is a media outlet affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city and commerce capital before its neighborhoods were devastated by the country's more than five-year-long civil war.

An estimated 275,000 people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the U.N. warned Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

The U.N.'s child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

"Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This is no way to live — and too many are dying."

Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and tens of others wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The Britain-based Observatory said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.</s>Image copyright Reuters Image caption Syrian forces resumed an offensive to capture rebel-held areas of Aleppo on 15 November

Syrian forces have retaken the largest rebel-controlled area in east Aleppo.

The capture of Hanano district, in north-east Aleppo, gives the army an advantage in its drive to seize other opposition-held areas, activists say.

Hundreds of civilians have reportedly fled into Hanano.

Some 275,000 people are under siege as the army's offensive - now in its 13th day - continues. The assault has killed 219 civilians, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

Among the victims were 27 children, the monitoring group added. Reports suggest there is a lack of medical supplies and food.

Capturing all of Aleppo would be a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after six and a half years of conflict.

Hanano was the first neighbourhood in Aleppo taken by rebels in 2012.

Syrian forces regained the district on Saturday - a move making it easier for them to isolate the northern districts of east Aleppo from the southern ones.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Shaar, in Aleppo, has been targeted by government forces

Air strikes launched as part of the recent government offensive were described by activists as the most intense ever, leaving the streets deserted.

More than 400 civilians fled overnight to Hanano and were taken to regime-controlled areas, the Observatory said.

Meanwhile the rebels intensified rocket attacks on the government-controlled western districts of Aleppo. Their attacks have killed 27 civilians since the offensive began, the Observatory said, including 11 children.

Aleppo, once Syria's commercial and industrial hub, has been divided roughly in two since 2012, with the government controlling the west and rebels the east.

In the past year, Syrian troops have broken the deadlock with the help of Iranian-backed militias and Russian air strikes.

Russia says its air force is active in other parts of the country, but not operating over Aleppo.</s>ALEPPO, SYRIA: Syrian state media said government forces Saturday captured the largest rebel-held district of Aleppo, in what would be a major breakthrough in its offensive to retake the entire second city.

Masaken Hanano was the first district the rebels took in the summer of 2012 in a move that divided Aleppo into an eastern area held by the insurgents and a western district controlled by government forces.

Since then, more than 250,000 civilians have been trapped under government siege for months in the rebel-held east, with dwindling food and fuel supplies.

The capture of Masaken Hanano in northeastern Aleppo is part of a major government offensive now in its 12th day that could isolate that part of the city from rebel-held areas in the south.

Since November 15, regime bombardment of eastern Aleppo has killed 212 civilians, including 27 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Regime forces had been advancing inside Masaken Hanano for several days, and on Friday state television said they were progressing “from three axes.”

On Saturday, the state broadcaster and the official SANA news agency said President Bashar Assad’s armed forces, backed by their allies, had taken “full control” of the district.

“The armed forces retook full control of Masaken Hanano after having put an end to the presence of terrorists there,” the state broadcaster said, referring to the rebels.

SANA said government forces also recaptured the area around the district and “army engineers are clearing it of bombs and explosives planted by the terrorists in the streets and squares.”

But Yasser Al-Youssef, from the rebel group Nureddin Al-Zinki, said fighting was still under way on the southern edges of Masaken Hanano, which he called a district of “strategic importance.”

Youssef warned that if regime forces can advance to the adjacent neighborhood of Sakhur, then eastern Aleppo will be split in two.

The Observatory also said late Saturday that regime forces now completely controlled Masaken Hanano and had begun an assault on Sakhur and nearby Al-Haidariya.





The latest regime push comes after days of intense bombardment on the rebel-held east, which was pounded with air strikes, shells and barrel bombs.

The escalation has terrified residents, and several families have fled to areas in southeastern Aleppo which have been relatively calm.

On Saturday, an AFP correspondent in one of those districts saw four families, without belongings, arrive on foot seeking shelter.

“In Hanano, for the past three days, they haven’t been able to set foot outside because of the intense bombardment,” said Abu Fadel, who helped them find lodgings.

“They left on foot because they had no other means of transport. At first they were afraid but when they saw many people around and that there was no bombardment they were reassured,” he said.

Damascus says east Aleppo residents and surrendering fighters are free to leave, but accuses the rebels of using civilians as “human shields.”

Before the army said it had captured Masaken Hanano, dozens of families fled from Sakhur and Al-Haidariya districts and headed further south, the Observatory said.

They took flight as regime forces pounded eastern Aleppo with air raids, including Sakhur, killing at least 11 civilians, it said.

The United Nations has a plan to deliver aid to Aleppo and evacuate the sick and wounded, which rebel factions have approved but which Damascus has yet to agree. Guarantees are also needed from regime ally Russia.

Also on Saturday, a string of explosions rocked a munitions storage site in northeastern Syria used by the US-led coalition battling the Daesh group, the Observatory and a local official said. Contacted by AFP, the coalition said there had been “no reports of explosions” at the site.</s>Hundreds of people in Syria's Aleppo have fled to areas under government control, a monitoring group said Sunday, as pro-government forces press on with an assault that has laid waste to the city's opposition neighborhoods.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 400 evacuees sought refuge in the Masaken Hanano neighborhood, captured by pro-government forces Saturday, and that an additional 30 families fled to Sheikh Maqsoud, which is under Kurdish control.

Syrian state media reported that hundreds of families had vacated areas under rebel control.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighborhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of the street. Al-Manar is a media outlet affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city and commerce capital before its neighborhoods were devastated by the country's more than five-year-long civil war.

An estimated 275,000 people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the U.N. warned Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

The U.N.'s child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

"Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This is no way to live — and too many are dying."

Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and tens of others wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The Britain-based Observatory said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.</s>DAMASCUS, SYRIA (12:35 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army’s “Tiger Forces” have advanced deep inside the strategic Hanano District in the eastern pocket of Aleppo today, capturing a number of sites that were previously under the control of Fatah Halab.

The Tiger Forces began their assault this morning by storming the central sector of Hanano, resulting in a violent battle with the jihadist rebels that is still ongoing at the moment.

According to a military source, the Syrian Armed Forces have once again captured most of Hanano, leaving only a quarter of the district still under the control of Fatah Halab and their allies in east Aleppo.

Meanwhile, south of the Hanano District, the Syrian Arab Army’s Republican Guard forces, alongside Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra (Desert Hawks Brigade), launched a new attack on ‘Ard Al-Hamra; this resulted in a heated battle at the central sector of this district.

In ‘Ard Al-Hamra’s vicinity, another force from the Republican Guard and Liwaa Al-Quds (Palestinian paramilitary) attempted to seize the Jabal Badro District; however, no gains have been reported thus far.

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Government forces have captured most of Hanano, the largest rebel-controlled district in eastern Aleppo, and have begun pushing into neighboring 'Ard Al-Hamra and Jabal Badro districts.