25,000 Syrian government troops surrounded by rebels in Aleppo

Regional media reported on June 8 that rebels had cut off the last supply routes of Syrian government forces between the coastal city of Latakia and Syria's largest city of Aleppo, inflicting the heaviest losses on President Bashar al-Assad's regime since 2011.

Scene of devastation in Aleppo city. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Located 178km west of Aleppo, Latakia is a major stronghold of the Damascus government. The supply route is used by the Syrian army to deliver reinforcements and ammunition to forces in Aleppo.

A senior Free Syrian Army military source said the rebels, including the Jaysh Al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) jihadist alliance, had captured several strategic checkpoints used by the Syrian army on the Latakia-Aleppo highway. The victory left 25,000 government troops “essentially trapped” in Aleppo and was “the biggest military loss for the Syrian regime” since the conflict began in 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that Jaysh Al-Fatah had captured Syrian government army positions around the city of Idlib, located between Latakia and Aleppo. Meanwhile, the Syrian government's news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying that the army had actually withdrawn from positions around Idlib to redeploy to areas "more suitable for achieving military objectives."

These positions are located 50km northeast of the city of Jisr Al-Shughour, which was captured by the Jaysh Al-Fatah alliance last month. Rebels also seized areas just outside the cities of Latakia and Hama, although government forces still maintain firm control of both cities.

According to VNA