</s>Syrian troops advance near Aleppo in attempt to impose siege

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian state media and an opposition activist group are reporting that government forces are advancing near the northern city of Aleppo in an attempt to impose a siege on rebel-held parts of the city.

Sunday's push comes a month after insurgent groups captured several military academies south of Aleppo and opened a corridor into rebel-held parts of Syria's largest city and former commercial center.

Since then government forces and their allies have been trying to recapture the area.

State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops have captured the Armament Academy and are "continuing their advance in the area to impose almost a total siege on the gunmen in Aleppo."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that government troops captured the academy.</s>BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian pro-government forces backed by airstrikes launched a wide offensive in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, capturing areas they lost last month and almost besieging rebel-held neighborhoods, state media and opposition activists said.

The push came a month after insurgents captured several military academies south of Aleppo and opened a corridor into rebel-held parts of Syria’s largest city and onetime commercial center. Since then, government forces and their allies have been trying to recapture the area.

State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops have captured the Armament Academy and are “continuing their advance in the area to impose almost a total siege on the gunmen in Aleppo.”

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that government troops captured the academy, adding that insurgents have launched a counteroffensive.

Al-Manar TV, which is run by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, said troops are now pushing toward the nearby Artillery Academy. Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to bolster President Bashar Assad’s forces.

To the north of Aleppo, fighting between Turkish-backed rebels and the Islamic State group intensified Sunday near the rebel-held town of al-Rai, near the Turkish border.

Turkey sent tanks into al-Rai on Saturday in what it said was a “new phase” in an operation to drive IS away from the border. Al-Rai is 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of Jarablus, a border town seized by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels last week. The Turkey-backed forces are now advancing toward each other from both towns, hoping to close off the last stretch of the Syrian border ruled by the extremists.

The Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, another Syrian monitoring group, said an IS suicide attacker riding a motorcycle struck in the northern village of Khalfatli, killing and wounding a number of people, including rebels.

The LCC said Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army rebels captured the village of Tweiran, to the south of al-Rai, from IS on Sunday. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said 19 Syrian rebels wounded in clashes with IS since Saturday have been hospitalized in Turkey.

In a press statement late Saturday, Turkey’s military said the FSA took control of 10 villages from IS, adding that the Turkish army struck 20 IS targets. Since the Turkish operation began on Aug. 24, the army says it has hit 300 targets with 1,306 rounds.

Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.</s>Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo on Sunday which rebels had seized last month, after heavy bombardments and repeated attempts to drive the insurgents back, a rebel official and monitors said.

The areas recaptured included the Weaponry College and the Air Force Technical College in the Ramousah area on the city’s southwestern outskirts.

Rebels captured those areas last month in an assault that broke through a government siege on Aleppo’s opposition-held eastern sector.

Recapturing all the territory gained by insurgents in that assault would effectively reimpose the siege.

Zakaria Malahifji of the Fastaqim rebel group confirmed reports that the two colleges had been recaptured by government forces.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said later that government forces had also recaptured the Artillery College.

President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia, Iran and the powerful Lebanese Shia group Hizbullah, wants to recapture the whole of Aleppo, which was Syria’s biggest city when the conflict in the country broke out five years ago.

Moscow’s intervention last year turned the war in Assad’s favour in many areas, but rebels have made some gains, including in Aleppo and in Hama province further south.

A spokesman for rebel group Jaish al-Nasr, Mohamed Rasheed, said insurgents in the latter area had launched a push to try and capture the town of Maan, north of the province capital, Hama city.

Advances by the insurgents in recent days have brought them to within just 10km of government-controlled Hama.</s>BEIRUT, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo on Sunday which rebels seized last month, after heavy bombardments and repeated attempts to drive the insurgents back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The areas recaptured included the Weaponry College and the Air Force Technical College in the Ramousah area on the city's southwestern outskirts, the British-based Observatory said.

Rebels captured those areas last month in an assault that broke through a government siege on Aleppo's opposition-held eastern sector. Recapturing all the territory gained by insurgents in that assault would effectively re-impose the siege.

A rebel official said earlier on Sunday government forces had entered the Weaponry College but battles were ongoing there.

Rebels could not immediately be reached for comment on the government side's latest gains.

President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia, Iran and the powerful Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, wants to recapture the whole of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the five-year conflict.

Moscow's intervention last year turned the war in Assad's favour in many areas, but rebels have made some gains including in Aleppo and in Hama province, further south. (Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Mark Potter)</s>Syrian government forces advanced on Sunday south of Aleppo city, a military source and state media said, as they pushed to once again encircle rebel neighbourhoods and reimpose a siege.

"The Syrian army, supported by allied forces, has total control of the armaments academy and expanded the territory it controls in the military academies zone," state news agency SANA said.

An AFP correspondent in the rebel-held east of Aleppo city reported heavy aerial bombardment on the combat zone in the south of the city, where three military schools are located.

Government forces have already recaptured the air force academy and rebels "are now besieged in the artillery academy," a military source said.

If they recapture the school, government forces could then "easily take Ramussa, a suburb south of Aleppo, and reimpose a siege of the rebel districts," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo city has been ravaged by the war that began with protests against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.

It has been roughly divided between regime control in the west and rebel control in the east since mid-2012.

In mid-July, advancing regime forces encircled the rebel-held east, placing the opposition districts under a siege that provoked international concern.

But on August 6, opposition forces seized Ramussa and reopened a route into the rebel-held portions of the city.</s>Syrian government troops on Sunday seized a military academy south of Aleppo city, once again encircling the rebel-held districts in the east and placing them under siege, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said government forces backed by Syrian and Russian air strikes had now severed the alternate route into the rebel east that opposition forces opened up in August.

"The army took control of the artillery academy, so they control all the academies, and the eastern neighbourhoods are under a full siege," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

There was no immediate confirmation in state media.

Government forces had been advancing in southern Aleppo for days, with the fighting already creating shortages for the estimated 250,000 people living in the rebel-held parts of the city.

But the capture of the academies, which straddle the road running to the eastern neighbourhoods, reinstates the government's encirclement of Aleppo.

Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been ravaged by the war that began with protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government in March 2011.

It has been roughly divided between rebel control in the east and government control in the west since mid-2012, and in recent months regime troops have gradually surrounded the city.

On July 17, they severed the only remaining route into the rebel-held east, the key Castello Road running down from the border with Turkey.

The road's capture led to shortages of food and fuel in the eastern neighbourhoods, and prompted international concern, including calls for 48-hour ceasefires to allow aid to enter.

On August 6, rebel forces including Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate pushed government forces back from a key route south of the city, creating a lifeline back into the east.

While the reopening of the road allowed some goods into the city, it was inaccessible to most aid agencies, and negotiations to secure a route in for assistance have yet to succeed.</s>DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces advanced on Sunday south of Aleppo city, a military source and state media said, as they pushed to once again encircle rebel neighbourhoods and reimpose a siege.

“The Syrian army, supported by allied forces, has total control of the armaments academy and expanded the territory it controls in the military academies zone,” state news agency SANA said.

An AFP correspondent in the rebel-held east of Aleppo city reported heavy aerial bombardment on the combat zone in the south of the city, where three military schools are located.

Government forces have already recaptured the air force academy and rebels “are now besieged in the artillery academy,” a military source said.</s>The areas recaptured included the Weaponry College and the Air Force Technical College in the Ramousah area on the city's southwestern outskirts, the British-based Observatory said.

Rebels captured those areas last month in an assault that broke through a government siege on Aleppo's opposition-held eastern sector. Recapturing all the territory gained by insurgents in that assault would effectively re-impose the siege.

A rebel official said earlier on Sunday government forces had entered the Weaponry College but battles were ongoing there.

Rebels could not immediately be reached for comment on the government side's latest gains.

President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia, Iran and the powerful Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, wants to recapture the whole of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the five-year conflict.

Moscow's intervention last year turned the war in Assad's favor in many areas, but rebels have made some gains including in Aleppo and in Hama province, further south.</s>Smoke billows on Sunday from a location on the southern outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo after regime forces retook control of three military academies from rebel fighters (AFP photo)

BEIRUT — Syrian government troops renewed the siege of rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Sunday, as Washington and Moscow failed to reach a deal on stemming violence in the country's devastating war.

Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels meanwhile expelled the Daesh terror group from the last stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border under its control, a monitor said.

Syrian state media said the army and allied forces had taken an area south of Aleppo, severing the sole route left into the eastern neighbourhoods held by the opposition.

"The armed forces in cooperation with their allies took full control of the military academy zone south of Aleppo and are clearing the remaining terrorists from the area," state television said, citing a military source.

It said the advance "cut all the supply and movement routes for terrorist groups from southern Aleppo province to the eastern neighbourhoods and Ramussa”.

The development leaves about 250,000 people living in rebel-controlled parts of the city cut off from the outside world once again, and will raise new fears about a humanitarian crisis in Aleppo.

Once Syria's economic powerhouse, the city has been ravaged by the war that began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

It has been roughly divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east since mid-2012, but in recent months regime forces slowly began to encircle the east.

In July, they severed the only road into the rebel neighbourhoods, the key Castello Road running from the Turkish border in the north, creating food and fuel shortages in the east.

The siege prompted international concern, with aid agencies urging 48-hour ceasefires to ensure humanitarian access.

In early August, rebel forces including Al Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate battled regime forces south of the city to open a new route to the east, through Ramussa district.

But in recent days regime forces backed by Syrian and Russian warplanes launched a counteroffensive.

A key regime ally, Moscow began an aerial campaign in support of President Bashar Assad’s government last September, even as it continued to publicly support efforts for a negotiated solution to the five-year war.

Earlier Sunday, hopes were raised that Moscow and Washington might be on the verge of announcing a deal to halt the bloodshed.

US President Barack Obama said both nations were working “around the clock” on a ceasefire, and a State Department official said a deal was close.

But the hopes evaporated later in the day, with a State Department official saying Russia had “walked back on some of the areas we thought we were agreed on”.

Instead, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are set to meet again on Monday in Hangzhou, China, where G-20 leaders are gathered.

“We’re going to review some ideas tonight, a couple things on these couple of tough issues, and come back together and see where we are,” said Kerry.

“We’re not going to rush,” he said, stressing the importance of reaching a deal that was able “to try to get the job done”.

Washington is opposed to Assad’s government, but has been accused by the opposition of failing to deliver concrete support.

And despite several rounds of international negotiations, a solution to the conflict that has killed more than 290,000 people and displaced millions remains elusive.

The conflict has become increasingly complex, involving not only regime and rebels, but international backers on both sides, Kurdish forces, extremists and now Turkey.

Ankara began an operation inside Syria on August 24, dispatching troops to battle both the Daesh terror group but also Syrian Kurdish forces it accuses of “terrorism”.

On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said rebels backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes had seized the last parts of the border held by extremists.

“IS [Daesh] has lost its contact with the outside world after losing the remaining border villages,” the Britain-based monitor said.

Much of the earlier work to expel Daesh from elsewhere on the border was done by the Syrian Kurdish YPG, working with the US-led coalition against the extremist force.

But Ankara considers the YPG a “terrorist” group and has been alarmed by its expansion along the border, fearing the creation of a contiguous, semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria.

The loss of the Turkish border will deprive Daesh of a key transit point for recruits and supplies, though the group continues to hold territory in both Syria and Iraq.
Syrian government forces advance around and encircle Aleppo in order to try and impose a siege.