Syria's second-largest city Aleppo has fallen from government control for the first time since the country's conflict began more than a decade ago, a war monitor said Sunday, after a surprise advance by rebels.
An Islamist-dominated rebel alliance has pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Syrian government since Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after two months of all-out war.
