The Syrian army, backed by Russian aviation, advanced Sunday towards a rebellious city about twenty kilometers from the Turkish border, as part of its lightning offensive in Aleppo province, the Observatory Syrian Human rights (OSDH).

“The regime’s troops are now located 7 km from the town of Tall Rifaat, one of the last bastions three rebels in the northern part of the province of Aleppo” with Azaz and Marea, told AFP Rami Abdel Rahman, Director OSDH. Tall Rifaat is in the hands of insurgents since 2012. “The regime is moving towards the north of the province to take Tall Rifaat then Azaz with the ultimate goal of reaching the Turkish border to prevent the rebels from crossing and weapons from the Turkey “, says Abdel Rahman. The near daily Al-Watan regime also reported Sunday that “the army has made progress Tall Rifaat (…) If this city falls, the army will move to take control of the entire northern Aleppo province. “

These new developments come after a series of advanced army of Bashar al-Assad since Monday with the crucial support of the Russian air strikes, Lebanese Hezbollah and militia in the northern province of Aleppo. This is highly fragmented: the insurgents are present in western and northern part of the regime in the north, east and south of the city of Aleppo, the organization Islamic state in the east and part of the north the province and the Kurds in the northwest and northeast.

In its offensive, the regime has managed to cut the main supply route between rebels in the east of the city of Aleppo and Turkey, which are now virtually besieged alongside 350,000 civilians. The battle of Aleppo could represent a turning point in the Syrian war as a total loss of the country’s second city, divided in two since 2012, strongly weaken the rebels struggling on other fronts. Furthermore, in the province of Damascus, the army surrounded the city since Saturday night Daraya, the last rebel stronghold in the south of the capital and the insurgents since 2012.