THOUSANDS of insurgents in Syria have reportedly made significant advances on government-held areas in the country’s north-west.

Activists and fighters claimed today that insurgents have reached the outskirts of Syria’s second largest city Aleppo and wrested control of several strategic towns and villages along the way.

Syria’s media said projectiles from insurgents landed in the student accommodations at Aleppo’s university in the city centre, killing four people, including two students. 

Residents in Aleppo reported hearing sounds of missiles on the city’s outskirts.

Fighters also advanced on the town of Saraqab, in north-western Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.

This week’s advances were one of the largest by opposition factions, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

It is the most intense fighting in north-western Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters. It is also the largest offensive by opposition fighters on the city since they were ousted from its eastern area in 2016.

Syria’s armed forces said the insurgents are violating a 2019 agreement that de-escalated fighting in the area, which has been the last remaining opposition stronghold for years.

The war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of fighters from both sides have been killed in the battles that started on Wednesday.