Assad Strikes Militants in Half-Abandoned Metropolis of Aleppo

The Syrian forces have staged a major offensive in the country's northern province of Aleppo which has left dozens of militants dead and many more wounded, according to the Iranian news agency FARS.

Sources said that the Syrian troops targeted Daesh terrorists in Al-Lairmoun-Al-Shayhan as well as around the neighborhoods of Karam al-Tarab and Suleiman al-Halabi in the shattered city of Aleppo, once Syria's largest with over two million people.

Also, the government troops destroyed militants' positions in the village of Mansoura west of Aleppo and the al-Mallah area north of the city.

The offensive came as the Syrian warplanes launched airstrikes on the militants' strongholds in Bani Zaid neighborhood in Aleppo and the Daesh-held cities of al-Bab and Dayr Hafir in Aleppo's countryside.

Additionally, the Syrian airstrikes hit terrorists' positions in Jarouf, Ein al-Beida, al-Bab and Anadan in Aleppo province.

Earlier this week, government troops launched a series of attacks on Daesh militants' strongholds near the town of al-Hamira in Aleppo and finally pushed them back after hours of fierce clashes.

Adding to the Syrian army's crackdown on Daesh is the Russian air campaign, which kicked off on September 30 when more than fifty Russian aircraft, including Su-24M, the Su-25 and Su-34 warplanes commenced precision airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria at the behest of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In particular, the army's offensive in northern province of Latakia was aided by a series of airstrikes from the Russian Air Force, which also targeted terrorists in Idlib, Hama and Homs.