Assad forces encircle rebel-held Aleppo
Syrian President Bashar Assad's military forces were closing in on the opposition-held city of Aleppo on Friday, highlighting the growing success of regime forces who are backed by a wave of Russian airstrikes.
The offensive into rebel territory by government troops sent thousands of Syrians fleeing toward the border with Turkey and threatened to unleash a new humanitarian disaster in a 5-year-old war that has already led to the deaths of more than 250,000 people.
Retaking Aleppo, a key commercial center in Syria, would be a critical victory for the regime and the latest in a series of setbacks for opposition forces.
Regime successes have made prospects for a brokered political solution even more remote since Assad would not be encouraged to make concessions. Talks this week to end the war fizzled out and are expected to resume later this month.
"The intense Russian airstrikes, mainly targeting opposition troops in Syria, is undermining efforts to find a political solution to the conflict," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
Russia has said it began airstrikes in Syrian last September in an effort to combat the Islamic State, but the Pentagon has said Russia's airstrikes are aimed only at bolstering the Assad regime.
Col. Steve Warren, a coalition military spokesman in Baghdad, said that only 10% of Russian airstrikes are aimed at the Islamic State and the rest are against moderate opposition groups fighting Assad.
Russia's help has given Assad's forces an important edge, allowing them to retake territory from opposition forces and seize momentum away from rebels.
A regime victory in Aleppo may not be imminent, but Assad's army has made important advances this week. They broke an opposition siege on some key towns around the city and cut a major supply line for opposition forces and civilians between Aleppo and the Turkish border, according to a report by IHS, a consultant group.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said up to 70,000 Syrian refugees were headed to Turkey to flee fighting. .
The Russian involvement and growing strength of Assad has added to the complexity of the battlefield. The U.S.-led coalition is conducting airstrikes in Syria aimed exclusively at the Islamic State. Russia and the United States are not coordinating the attacks but have agreed to take measures to avoid mishaps among pilots.
This week Saudi Arabia's military said it was prepared to send ground troops to Syria to fight the Islamic State if there was coalition consensus.
The Saudi proposal was expected to be considered at a meeting in Brussels next month. It was welcomed Thursday by Defense Secretary Ash Carter.