The Syrian armed opposition announced that it entered the first neighborhoods of Aleppo city today, Friday, after confirming its control over dozens of towns and villages following fierce battles with the Syrian regime forces and their allies.

The armed opposition's military operations department said its fighters had taken control of the Practical Research Center in New Aleppo.

She added that the factions participating in the attack are now only two kilometers away from the center of Aleppo.

Several factions are participating in the operation, including Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and others from the opposition's Syrian National Army.

This development comes on the third day of the "deterrence of aggression" battle launched by the armed Syrian opposition in response to what it said were escalating attacks and regime crowds attacking its strongholds.

Military reinforcements

For his part, a Syrian military source told Agence France-Presse that reinforcements from the Syrian army had arrived in the city of Aleppo.

The source added that fierce battles and clashes are taking place west of Aleppo, stressing that the fighting has not reached the city's borders.

In the same context, Syrian TV said that armed groups are targeting neighborhoods in Nubl and Zahraa in the northern Aleppo countryside with shells.

Earlier today, the Syrian News Agency said that 4 civilians, including two students, were killed when armed groups targeted the university city in Aleppo with shells.

Full control

This morning, Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani, spokesman for the armed opposition's military operations department, announced that their forces had taken full control of the entire western Aleppo countryside after fierce battles with Syrian regime forces that lasted 36 hours.

Abdul Ghani added that the opposition forces "liberated" the strategic town of Kafr Halab, west of Aleppo city, and the Military Operations Administration announced control of strategic sites in the southeastern Idlib countryside.

The Syrian armed factions had previously taken control of the headquarters of the 46th Regiment, the strategic town of Khan al-Assal, and dozens of other towns and villages. They also attacked the Nayrab airport east of Aleppo, where pro-Iranian factions are stationed.

A Syrian military source acknowledged that this advance allowed the opposition forces to position themselves approximately 10 kilometers from the center of Aleppo and a few kilometers from the towns of Nubl and Zahraa, which are considered a defense line for the city and are home to armed groups loyal to Iran.

According to the Anadolu Agency, since the start of the attack, the Syrian factions have taken control of 400 square kilometers within 56 towns and villages in Aleppo and Idlib, and have approached the New Aleppo neighborhood to become one kilometer away from the city's outer neighborhoods.

The armed opposition declared the western Aleppo countryside a military zone, and said that it is working to remove mines in preparation for the return of tens of thousands of displaced persons. Sources also spoke of its control over neighborhoods in the city of Saraqib in the eastern Idlib countryside.

The opposition reported that more than 200 members of the Syrian regime forces were killed and hundreds more were injured, in addition to the capture of at least 20 members and the seizure of tanks and armored vehicles, while reports indicated that the armed factions suffered more than 100 deaths.

In contrast, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said that its forces were repelling the attack and inflicting heavy losses in equipment and lives on the attacking forces.

Reuters quoted residents and witnesses as saying that the main highway between Aleppo and Damascus was closed as a result of the clashes, and Agence France-Presse reported that fierce fighting has been taking place since Wednesday morning east of Idlib city.

"violation of sovereignty"

As field developments accelerated, the Russian presidency considered what was happening in Aleppo a violation of Syria's sovereignty.

The Kremlin called on the Syrian regime to restore what it described as constitutional order in the region as soon as possible.

In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei yesterday denounced what he considered a violation of the de-escalation agreement in northern Syria.

Baqaei said that the attack launched by what he called terrorist groups in Syria is "part of the evil plan of the terrorist Zionist entity and America to destabilize the security in the West Asia region."

It is noteworthy that Moscow and Tehran are allies of Damascus and have provided it with military and political support since the outbreak of the revolution in Syria in 2011, enabling it to regain large parts of the lands that the factions had controlled at the beginning of the conflict.