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Syrian troops on offensive south of Aleppo — media

Syrian army units entered the city’s southern and eastern suburbs, where fighting with gangs started, the Al Mayadeen TV station reports

BEIRUT, November 11. /TASS/. Syrian troops and militia units on Wednesday surrounded the key city of Al-Hader south of Aleppo — the economic capital of the country (360 kilometers from Damascus), the Al Mayadeen TV station reported.

The station said Syrian army units entered the city’s southern and eastern suburbs, where fighting with gangs started.

Al-Hader hosts the largest outpost of three armed groups — Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar. They all make part of the coalition named Jaish al-Fatah, which is fighting the government forces in the northern provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Latakia.

The Syrian troops are also continuing their offensive operations east of Aleppo, where the military air base of Kveiras was liberated on Tuesday.

Russian military operation in Syria

Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes at facilities of the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria on September 30, 2015. The air group comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. Hundreds of terrorist facilities have been hit by Russian aircraft.

On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants’ facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive.

Russia’s Armed Forces act on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Russian Federation does not plan to take part in ground operations in Syria.

According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.