Russian airstrikes hit Aleppo for first time since 2016 as jihadists enter Syrian city

Amman: Russian and Syrian jets on Saturday bombed insurgents who had taken positions in an Aleppo city suburb they had captured on Friday, two Syrian military sources said.

The bombing campaign also targeted towns and villages taken by rebels in a surprise sweep from their opposition enclave to the city. 

Russia, one of the key allies of the Syrian government, has promised the Bashar al-Assad administration extra military aid to thwart the rebels, two military sources said, adding new hardware would start arriving in the next 72 hours.

Russia, a staunch ally of President Assad, intervened militarily on Assad's side against insurgents in 2015 in its biggest foray in the Middle East since the Soviet Union's collapse, and maintains an airbase and naval facility in Syria.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that Moscow regarded the rebel attack as a violation of Syria's sovereignty and wanted the authorities to act fast to regain control.

"As for the situation around Aleppo, it is an attack on Syrian sovereignty and we are in favour of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible," Peskov had said.