A general view shows destruction in Aleppo's rebel-held Bustan al-Basha neighbourhood on October 6, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Friday recaptured a strategic hilltop, overlooking rebel-held districts in the northern city of Aleppo, as part of a broad offensive the army waged recently to flush the rebels out of Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported.

Capturing the Sheikh Saeed hill has enabled the Syrian army to overlook the rebel-held districts of Amiriyeh and Sukariyeh in the Cement Factory in eastern Aleppo, according to the report.

The fresh advance is the latest in a series of victories the Syrian army has recently achieved in Aleppo, as part of the declared offensive to dislodge the insurgents from the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo.

A day earlier SANA said the military forces captured areas in the rebel-held Bustan al-Basha neighborhood, and al-Sakhour area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group, said the recent progress of the Syrian army is the first in three years against the rebels in Aleppo.

Following a last month faltering truce, President Bashar al-Assad pledged to restore all Aleppo city.

On Thursday, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura made a new proposition, which basically focuses on emptying eastern Aleppo from the radical elements of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, previously the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, in an apparent move to reduce the Syrian military campaign on eastern Aleppo.

Ahead, and during the offensive on eastern Aleppo, the general command of the Syrian army urged the civilians to leave the rebel-held areas and reach the government-controlled ones in western Aleppo.

The army also offered amnesty for the rebels who would surrender themselves in Aleppo.

The offer was repeated several times over the past few weeks.

The situation in Aleppo has caused a rift between the U.S. and Russia, with both expressing dismay with each other's conduct regarding the situation in Aleppo.

Moscow has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to take place on Friday, with Mistura's going to give his statement about the situation in Aleppo, and possibly his new proposition.