Reuters reports that on Thursday the Syrian Army, with support from Lebanese Hezbollah troops, reclaimed Al-Hader, a strategic city in south Aleppo.
"Syrian troops and allied forces have full control of Al-Hader," a military source reported to AFP.
Al-Hader is six miles from the Aleppo-Damascus highway, a major supply route for Nusra Front and other extremist groups.
"The town is the biggest headquarters for rebel forces in southern Aleppo, and capturing it would bring the army closer to the key Aleppo-Damascus highway," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the chief of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Aleppo and surrounding areas have changed hands multiple times during the past four years of the Syrian conflict. Aleppo city has Syrian government control in the west, while extremist groups maintain control in the east.
The Syrian Army launched an offensive toward Al-Hader on October 17. They are backed by Russian airstrikes. The Syrian government gained control of areas south of Aleppo and continued to push forward.
As Al Bawaba previously reported, the capture of Al-Hader is the second big success for the Syrian Army's offensives against militants in Aleppo this week. Earlier this week, the Syrian Army recaptured the Kweires airbase from Daesh militants, east of Aleppo. The airbase had been under seige for two years.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that fighting in Al-Hader is ongoing.
