Assad vows to defeat Syrian rebels as insurgents seize majority of Aleppo

Russia's launched air strikes on parts of Aleppo, reportedly killing civilians, after rebel fighters took control of large parts of the city. Fred Dimbleby reports.

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has pledged to defend against a rebel offensive, as a wave of insurgents have taken over most of Aleppo.

Rebel fighters now control the city's airport after entering Aleppo in armoured vehicles on Friday, facing little resistance from government troops.

Thousands of insurgents also seized towns and villages in northern Hama on Saturday, a Syrian province where they previously had a presence, but were expelled from in 2016.

In a video released by the country's state news agency, Assad said Syria will continue to "defend its stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters".

He added that Syria is able to defeat them no matter how much their attacks intensify.

Russian jets launched air strikes at rebels overnight, hitting supply lines overnight on the edge of the city and killing 20 fighters, according to monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syria's armed forces said they had withdrawn their troops to prepare for a counterattack after acknowledging that rebels had entered large parts of the city.

Dozens of soldiers have been killed in the Aleppo offensive, according to Syria's defence ministry.

Insurgents were filmed outside police headquarters, in the city centre, and outside the Aleppo citadel. They tore down posters of Bashar Al Assad, stepping on some and burning others.

Schools and government offices were closed Saturday as most people stayed indoors, according to a pro-government radio station. Residents of Aleppo reported hearing clashes and gunfire.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday Aleppo's two key public hospitals were reportedly full of patients, while many private facilities closed.

The surprise takeover is a huge embarrassment for Assad, who managed to regain total control of the city in 2016 after a gruelling military campaign in which his forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.

In social media posts, the insurgents were pictured outside of Aleppo citadel, the medieval palace in the old city centre.

The rebel offensive has threatened to reignite the country's civil war, which had been largely in a stalemate for years.

State media reported that a number of “terrorists" have infiltrated parts of the city.

A state TV morning show reported that reinforcements and Russia’s assistance will repel the “terrorist groups,” blaming Turkey for supporting the insurgents’ push into Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

An opposition fighter in the centre of the city said “God willing, the rest of Aleppo province will be liberated" from government forces.

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Russia’s state news agency reported that Russian warplanes targeted and killed 200 militants who launched the offensive in the northwest on Friday. It provided no further details.

The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after 2011 protests against President Bashar Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.

Russia and Iran and its allied groups helped Syrian government forces reclaim control of the city that year after a gruelling military campaign and a siege that lasted for weeks.

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