Syrian troops and allied militiamen blasted their way into two Shiite villages in northern Syria today, breaking a long-running rebel siege during a major offensive, Syrian TV reported.
The government advance angered the opposition, further undermining prospects for peace talks underway in Geneva. The two villages, Nubl and Zahra, are located in the middle of opposition territory.
They have been blockaded by rebel groups for around three years, with the army occasionally airdropping food and other assistance.
Their capture would mark a major victory for government forces, which have made significant advances in Aleppo province in the past few days, severing a key supply route linking rebels in Aleppo city to the Turkish border.
Today, pro-government fighters continued their offensive north of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, in an attempt to besiege rebel-held neighborhoods. If the government succeeds, it will be one of the biggest blows to insurgents since they captured large parts of the city in the summer of 2012.
The Aleppo advances cast a further shadow over indirect peace talks in Geneva.
Basma Kodmani, a member of the opposition's negotiating team, described the offensive as a "horrible development," saying it sends the message that "there is nothing to negotiate. Just go home."
"We're not going home," she said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Syrian TV said the siege of Nubl and Zahra was broken by the army and Shiite militias known as the Popular Defense Committees. The Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV also reported the advance and showed exclusive footage of the fighting on the outskirts of the villages.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group that monitors the conflict through activists on the ground, said the Syrian army was one kilometer away from the two villages.
Meanwhile, an aid convoy headed to a besieged rebel-held town near Damascus, but Syria's opposition said today that such deliveries are meaningless given the situation in Aleppo.
The convoy heading to Moadamiyeh is the second aid delivery to rebel-held areas near the capital in as many days, a spokesman for the International Committee for the Red Cross said.
