Once a vital economic hub and Syria's largest city, Aleppo was ravaged by years of fighting, until government forces, with help from Russia and Iran, finally recaptured the entire city in 2016.

The British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said that more than 300 people had been killed since the start of the offensive launched by militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions on Wednesday in which dozens of villages have been seized.

Syria’s second-largest city of Aleppo is facing upheaval after the fall of the Assad regime to rebels. The city has seen heavy destruction from Syrian and Russian forces. Residents hope this new beginning will mark a change.

Eastern Aleppo was all but obliterated during the Syrian, Russian and Iranian onslaught against the city during the country's civil war. Rebels who were holed up there during the civil war were targeted in air strikes and with barrel bombs,