Syria: Kurdish militias retreat from strategic Aleppo district after jihadist offensive
Kurdish militias have retreated from a strategic neighborhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo after Al Nusra and Ahram al-Sham militants launched a heavy offensive across the embattled city, Russian military say.
“Following heavy shelling and unceasing attacks on Kurdish positions by fighters from Jabhat Al Nusra and Ahram al-Sham terror groups, the Kurdish militias left their positions in the district of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo and retreated, ” a spokesman for the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria said in a statement on Saturday.
Earlier, Russian military said that the estimated strength of the forces of Al Nusra Front and other militant groups in the area was 2,000 people.
The Russian military stressed that the offensive operation was made possible by the halt in attacks on militant positions by Russian and Syrian warplanes at the US’s request, which allowed the terrorist to regroup and replenish their weapons stockpiles.