Syrian troops besiege rebel-held parts of Aleppo

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2012 file photo, a Syrian man holds bullets he picked from the wall of a damaged house in the town of Atareb, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. Syrian opposition activists said Sunday, July 17, 2016 that government forces and their allies have closed the only road leading into and out of rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo, besieging hundreds of thousands of people. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says government forces and members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group reached the Castello road Sunday, closing it and raising fears of a humanitarian crisis. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File) FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2012 file photo, a Syrian man holds bullets he picked from the wall of a damaged house in the town of Atareb, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. Syrian opposition activists said Sunday, July 17, 2016 that government forces and their allies have closed the only road leading into and out of rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo, besieging hundreds of thousands of people. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says government forces and members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group reached the Castello road Sunday, closing it and raising fears of a humanitarian crisis. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

By Associated Press July 17, 2016 4 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – Syrian government forces closed the only road leading into and out of rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, besieging hundreds of thousands of people and giving President Bashar Assad’s forces one of their biggest successes since the five-year conflict began.

Sunday’s push raised fears among the city’s civilian population of a humanitarian crisis as many feared food and medicine will run out in Aleppo within a short time.

The siege marks the biggest victory for the government in Aleppo since rebels captured parts of the city in the summer of 2012. Aleppo, Syria’s former commercial center and the country’s largest city, has been divided and contested since then.

Aleppo and its suburbs have seen intense fighting in recent months, with Syrian troops and their allies advancing with the aid of Russian airstrikes. Earlier this year the government launched a large-scale offensive that captured much of the city’s northern outskirts.

The capture of the road came as Russia and the United States, who support rival parties in the conflict, are negotiating a possible military partnership over Syria. Both countries have been trying to end the conflict in Syria, now in its sixth year.