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DAMASCUS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian forces unleashed a large-scale offensive in the southern countryside of the northern province of Aleppo on Friday, just a day after starting a broad offensive in Homs province in central Syria, according to the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.
The military started the broad offensive in the rebel-held areas in southern Aleppo from three directions, namely the towns of Khan Toman, Jabal Azan and al-Wdaihi.
They succeeded to recapture the Tank Battalion and many villages south of Aleppo under a heavy fire cover and Russian-Syrian joint airstrikes, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Aleppo citizens were advised to stay away from the rebel positions.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense battles are still raging in southern Aleppo, as the Syrian army is advancing.
The UK-based watchdog group said the battles are taking place around 12 km south of Aleppo city, which is carved out between the Syrian forces in the west and the rebels in the east.
The battles in Aleppo, Syria's second largest city and once an economic capital of Syria, came just one day after the Syrian troops launched attacks on positions of jihadi groups in the northern countryside of the central province of Homs.
Al-Mayadeen TV said the operations in Homs are still ongoing, adding that the troops succeeded in capturing several towns and villages.
It said the military offensive in Homs aims at restoring the rebel bastions of Talbiseh and Rastan as well as al-Hulleh and other towns, which have for long been major stronghold of the insurgents.
The Observatory, however, accused the Syrian forces of killing 60 people, including 17 rebels, in the Homs offensive, while the state news agency SANA said the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front committed the massacre to frame the Syrian army.
The wide-scale battles are part of the broad offensive the Syrian Military General Command announced last week, just days after the Russian air force stepped in to cover the Syrian ground forces.
Reports said that Iranian forces are also streaming into the country to take part in the ground operations.
