Syrian rebels in the last opposition enclave in northern Syria launched on Wednesday a wide-scale military operation against the Syrian army and seized territory in the first such advance in years, army and rebel sources said.

The rebel offensive overran at least ten areas under the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in northwestern Aleppo province, said a source in the operations room run by a coalition of insurgent groups led by the militant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. 

The land incursion is the first such territorial advance since March 2020 when Russia, which backs Assad, and Turkey, which supports the rebels, agreed to a ceasefire that led to military action halting in Syria's last major rebel stronghold in the country's northwest.

Rebels advanced almost 10 km (6 miles) from the outskirts of Aleppo city and a few kilometers away from Nubl and Zahra, two Shi'ite towns where Hezbollah has a strong militia presence, an army source said.