Opposition starts 'largest' fight to break Aleppo siege

ANKARA (AA) - Syrian opposition launched an operation to break the Bashar al-Assad regime’s siege of eastern Aleppo in northern Syria Friday, an opposition group official said.

Abdumun'im Ezzin, coordinator of opposition groups in northern Syria, told Anadolu Agency the operation was the "largest" in terms of number of fighters and equipment involved.

"Its [operation] aim is to break the siege of [opposition-held eastern] Aleppo and challenge Iran and Russia. All the fighters are determined to continue till the Aleppo siege ends," Ezzin said.

Earlier, a source from the opposition side, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Jaysh al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) had carried out attacks on Assad forces using Grad and Elephant missiles.

Ahraru Sham, a component of the Army of Conquest, said via its social media account that it had hit regime headquarters in Dahiatul Assad and 1070 neighborhood in northern Syria.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-torn country, according to UN figures.