LATEST VIDEO: Syrian Government Forces Advance in al-Oweija in North of Aleppo

A general fighting with them said rebels operating in the area had included the Nour al-Din al-Zenki movement and Jabhat al-Nusra.

The Syrian military said the army had on Wednesday gained control of several factories in al-Oweija, south of Handarat camp.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, confirmed the government’s gains in that area and said that fierce battles were raging on other fronts in Aleppo, including around Bustan Pasha and Suleiman al-Halabi.

Airstrikes and shelling on rebel-held eastern Aleppo, and insurgent shelling of the government-held west of the city, have killed hundreds of militants since an offensive began on September 19, according to residents and war monitors.

The rebel-held eastern zone has been effectively besieged by the army and its allies since mid-September, and about half of its approximately 275,000 inhabitants may want to leave, the UN said on Wednesday.

Since the offensive began, the army and its allies have made territorial gains in the northern part of Aleppo, capturing the Handarat refugee camp, and have also taken control of smaller areas in the south and in the city center.