Syrian rebels deny losing ground in Aleppo

SYRIAN rebels have rejected claims that government forces and allies, including fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, have taken back parts of Aleppo recently captured by rebels.
Hassan al-Eshra, a fighter in the Jaysh al-Islam armed group, said that it and other rebel groups were still in control of the flashpoint neighbourhood of Ramosa on Tuesday evening, despite government attempts to recapture it.
“We haven’t fallen back from any of the sites … we took from the regime three days ago,” Eshra told Al Jazeera by telephone from the frontline. “Yesterday the regime tried (to recapture Ramosa) three times, but it is strategically incapable.”
Syrian rebel groups have said that they are fighting to hang on to key areas in the northern city as government forces and allies escalated attacks.
Eshra told Al Jazeera that rebels were still in control of the Telat al-Snobarat area on the southwestern edge of the city.
“This area is still under our control,” he said, adding that rebels targeted an industrial area and gas field north of the city with several missiles.
Fatah Halab, a coalition of national and local rebel groups, broke the government-imposed siege on the city over the weekend along with Jaish al-Fatah, or the Army of Conquest.
The Army of Conquest is a coalition of rebel groups that includes Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly the al-Nusra Front).
The Syrian government has sent thousands of reinforcements to the city in recent days as part of an attempt to reverse gains made by rebel groups.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar television channel and Al Mayadeen, a news channel close to the Syrian government, reported earlier on Tuesday that pro-government fighters, supported by heavy air strikes, had recaptured Telat al-Snobarat.