BEIRUT (AP) – In a multi-pronged offensive, Syrian government forces and their allies pushed into an area north of the city of Aleppo on Thursday, threatening a key supply line for the city’s opposition-held quarters and setting off intense clashes with rebels, activists said.
The advance came despite of and in violation of the government’s own cease-fire, which the authorities announced the day before to coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan.
Also Thursday, the international relief organization Mercy Corps warned its food stocks in the opposition-held half of the contested city of Aleppo could run out in a month. It said it provides food aid to 75,000 people there, among an estimated population of 300,000-400,000 in the rebel-held sections. The entire city, which is also the capital of Aleppo province, has about 2 million people.
“Unless we are able to resupply, it’s going to be very difficult if not impossible to continue support beyond that,” said Dominic Graham, who directs the organization’s Syria efforts.
Fierce fighting also broke out in the eastern and southern suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus, activists and rebel fighters reported.