The Syrian military has announced a “temporary withdrawal” from the northwestern city of Aleppo, where rebel groups have launched their first surprise offensive against government forces in years.
The military said on Saturday that dozens of its soldiers had been killed or wounded in heavy fighting with “armed terrorist organizations” in Aleppo and Idlib provinces over the past few days, and that it was regrouping and redeploying troops to bolster its defenses in preparation for a “counterattack.”
The statement also said that rebel groups had launched a “widespread attack from several directions on the Aleppo and Idlib fronts,” reporting clashes “in a strip more than 100 kilometers wide.”
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