FLASH
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Rebel forces in Syria say they have entered the country's second-largest city, Aleppo, in their biggest offensive against the government in years.
The video, posted on a channel linked to the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), appears to show its fighters in vehicles inside the city. It is the first time rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces have reached Aleppo since they were forced out by the army in 2016.
Meanwhile, government forces say they have regained positions in a number of towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, following an offensive launched by HTS and allied factions on Wednesday.
More than half a million people have been killed in the civil war that erupted after the government cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011. A range of armed groups opposed to Assad's government - including jihadists - took advantage of the unrest to seize swathes of territory.
The Syrian government, with the help of Russia and other allies, later retook most of the areas it had lost. Idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold, is mostly controlled by HTS, but Turkish-backed rebel factions and Turkish forces are also based there.
On Friday, a statement posted on a rebel-linked channel said: "Our forces have begun to enter the city of Aleppo."
Videos verified by the BBC show armed men running down a road about seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from Aleppo's medieval citadel to the city center.
Another clip verified by the BBC showed large groups of people carrying luggage leaving an area near the University of Aleppo. This video was recorded 3 km away from a place where HTS-affiliated media claim rebel forces have entered the city.
The government says reinforcements have now reached Aleppo and are pushing out the rebels. The UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which uses a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported that Syrian and Russian jets carried out 23 airstrikes in the Aleppo region on Friday. BBC
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