The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched airstrikes Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo, as Iran pledged to help the government counter the surprise offensive.

The Syrian military has rushed in reinforcements to push back insurgents from advancing farther into the northern Hama countryside after they seized Aleppo in a surprise offensive

Syrian rebels have taken Aleppo city and all of Idlib in an unprecedented offensive against Assad regime forces, now they look to take Hama.

The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the country’s northwest and launched airstrikes on a major city in an attempt to push back insurgents.

The lightning assault on Aleppo by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham abruptly redrew the front lines of Syria’s civil war.

By Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) -Syrian rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday they had reached the heart of the northern city of Aleppo, after a surprise sweep through government-held towns and nearly a decade after having been forced out of the city.

Anti-government rebels seized control of Syria's second-largest city of Aleppo on Saturday. Their advance ignites a new phase of the country's long-running civil war.

The Syrian army said on Saturday dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack by rebels who swept into the city of Aleppo, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.