A major Syrian opposition body announced on Aug. 6 that rebel fighters have broken the devastating months-long siege of Aleppo by the Bashar Assad regime and allied forces. The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition said on Twitter: "Rebels break Aleppo's siege." The Ahrar al-Sham rebel group also posted that rebels had seized control of the strategic Ramosa military school on the southwestern edges of the city and thereby "opened the route to Aleppo." Regime forces completed their circle Aleppo on July 17, closing off the last opposition-controlled route into the city. The battle for Ramosa was apparently led by a coalition of rebel groups, Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest). Jaish al-Fatah includes Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front. A quarter of a million civilians still live in Aleppo's opposition-controlled eastern districts. (Al Jazeera, ARA News)
