Opposition fighters in the Syrian city of Aleppo claimed responsibility for at least two car bombings against regime positions, in conjunction with what they say is a rebel offensive to try to break the siege around rebel-controlled eastern neighborhoods.
"The whole city can hear the clashes, it is very huge," a resident of a government controlled part of the city told CNN on Friday, on condition of anonymity.
"It is more than big," said Ismail Abdullah, a rescue worker in Aleppo's rebel held east, when asked about the fighting.
Jabhet Fateh al-Sham -- formerly al-Nusra Front -- confirmed the offensive had begun on their Telegram channel. On Twitter, the al-Sham Legion rebel group announced that shelling on government areas was underway.
Opposition social media showed videos of rebel tanks, armored personnel carriers, grad rockets and artillery firing from the southwest of the city, in an apparent attempt to break through Syrian government offenses from the outside of Aleppo.
The rebel attack comes after Syrian government and allied Russian forces declared a unilateral ceasefire last week, bringing several days of calm after weeks of intense aerial bombardment.
The United Nations blames both sides in the conflict for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting to allow the evacuation of some of the hundreds of thousands of civilians believed to be trapped in eastern Aleppo.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday that at least 400 people had been killed by Russian and Syrian government aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo in less than a month.
Stephen O'Brien also told the UN Security Council that throughout October, rebel mortar strikes killed at least 100 people, including 17 women and 22 children.
Source: Cnn
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