The advance on Aleppo followed a shock offensive launched on Wednesday, as fighters swept through villages and towns.

Opposition fighters have seized control of most of Syria's second-largest city Aleppo after launching a surprise offensive against government forces, a war monitor reported on Saturday, as an airstrike reportedly killed 16 people and wounded 20.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group in Syria has taken control of much of Aleppo city after local forces withdrew to organize a counteroffensive to retake Aleppo.

Video posted by pro-opposition media in Syria shows militants in Aleppo’s western suburbs removing the Syrian national flag from a monument.

Syria state media say government troops are battling insurgents inside the country’s largest city Aleppo for the first time since 2016

The lightning assault on Aleppo by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham abruptly redrew the front lines of Syria’s civil war.

A rebel commander said a fall in Iran-backed manpower created an opening this week's assault. Iran's ally Hezbollah has suffered big losses to Israel.

The Syrian army said on Saturday dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels who swept into the city of Aleppo, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.