Report: Syrian Government's Path to Aleppo Blocked by IS Group

The Islamic State group cut the Syrian government’s only route into the northern city of Aleppo, according to reports Monday, amid fighting between forces allied with President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebel factions in the area.

The extremist group captured three points overnight along the Ithriyah-Khanasser Road, which leads to Aleppo, according to the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV, which is seen as aligned with the pro-government Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

The report added that the Syrian Arab Arby is working on reopening the road, which is the only supply route for the Syrian government into the city.

Other reports said a large convoy of reinforcements has been sent from eastern Aleppo to help recapture the road.

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Meanwhile, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense battles were taking place around the road on several fronts.

The Syrian army and allied militias, flanked by Russian airstrikes, have been making strides against rebels in the area, who have controlled much of the city since 2012. Aleppo is Syria's second-largest city and once the hub of the country's economic life.

The United Nations has warned that the latest fighting is spurring yet another humanitarian disaster.

“The latest shelling and bombardments have destroyed many more Syrian lives, as well as schools and hospitals, and have created large numbers of internally displaced persons, many of whom will become refugees,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote in a Feb. 17 letter to the Security Council,