According to information provided to AFP by a monitoring group in Syria, a vital supply route that links western Aleppo with the town of Khanaseer to the southeast has been cut by Daesh and other militants.
The road is crucial as it is the only way regime forces and civilians could travel outside of Aleppo’s government-controlled neighborhoods to surrounding neighborhoods.
An offensive launched earlier this year by government forces north and west of Aleppo could be slowed if these same government forces cannot retake the road, and water and food supplies shortages could worsen for civilians, AFP reports.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman was quoted by AFP as saying:"Militants from the Caucasus and from (China's mainly Muslim region of) Xinjiang, as well as the militant group Jund al-Aqsa, cut the route from the south after a surprise attack."
He continued, "And fighters from Daesh cut off a different part of the route from the northern side at the same time."
AFP added that foreign fighters have flocked to Syria by the thousands over the past two years, in support of militants groups such as Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front, Daesh or Jund al-Aqsa.
This is not the first time that the government's supply route to Aleppo has been cut as rebels cut the road in 2013 and Daesh also cut the road last year.
