By Saturday, they had taken control of "large parts" of the country's second-biggest city, Aleppo. The surprise offensive prompted the first Russian strikes on Aleppo since 2016, and saw Syria's military withdraw its troops from the city.

Islamist-led rebels advanced on Syria's fourth-largest city Hama Tuesday, buoyed by their lightning capture of swathes of the north in an offensive that ended four years of relative calm.Normally, it would take just a couple of hours to reach Syria's third city,

Syrian rebels battled government forces and allied militia on Wednesday in villages north and east of Hama, a major city whose capture would pile pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. The rebels have staged their biggest advance in years over the past week,