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| Aleppo prison siege 'broken by Syrian troops' | Aleppo prison siege 'broken by Syrian troops' |
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| Syrian forces have broken a year-long rebel siege of a prison in the northern city of Aleppo, reports say. | Syrian forces have broken a year-long rebel siege of a prison in the northern city of Aleppo, reports say. |
| UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say forces entered the complex, although this has not been confirmed. | UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say forces entered the complex, although this has not been confirmed. |
| Thousands of inmates are held in the prison, which has been the scene of fierce fighting for months as rebels have tried to capture it. | Thousands of inmates are held in the prison, which has been the scene of fierce fighting for months as rebels have tried to capture it. |
| The area is strategically important as it lies near a key supply route for fighters in rebel-held parts of Aleppo. | The area is strategically important as it lies near a key supply route for fighters in rebel-held parts of Aleppo. |
| Some 60,000 people in the rebel- and government-held parts of Aleppo province received food aid for the first time in months on Wednesday after the International Committee of the Red Cross was granted access. | |
| ICRC president Peter Maurer said the operation, which will continue for the next few days, is the largest of its kind in recent months. | |
| The Syrian Observatory's director, Rami Abdel Rahman, said "regular armed forces backed by pro-regime fighters" had been able "to break the siege of Aleppo central prison". | |
| Tanks and armoured vehicles "entered the grounds of the prison", he told the AFP news agency. | |
| Two Lebanese television stations, which are close to the Syrian government, also reported that the siege had been ended by government troops. | |
| Fighters with the Nusra Front and other Islamist rebel groups began besieging the prison in April 2013. | |
| They have since launched several attacks, trying to free as many as 3,000 inmates believed to be held inside the prison. |