The aim of the operation was to encircle Aleppo and cut rebel supply lines into the city, thus besieging rebel-held areas.

[14] Between 15 and 28 December, a series of Army helicopter attacks with barrel bombs[15] against rebel-held areas of Aleppo left 517 people dead, including 151 children, 46 women and 46 rebels, according to the SOHR.

[22] On 25 December, pro-government sources claimed that the Syrian Army captured the al-Jbanat area near Aleppo's al-Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood.

[31] At the same time, government troops pushed out of Kweires military airport, east of Aleppo and the station, and captured villages around the base.

[38] On 25 January, the Army captured the neighborhood of Karam Al Qasr on the eastern side of Aleppo city, after three days of fighting.

It too said that an operation had been launched from Nairab airport in the east, as well as Aziza village in the south, while adding that troops had reached the outskirts of Mayssar, a rebel bastion in southeast Aleppo.

[45] On 16 February, government forces captured the village of Sheikh Najjar, south of the industrial zone,[46] as well as Talet al-Ghali, on the eastern outskirts of Aleppo.

[49] The next day, the Army re-secured Sheikh Najjar[50] and captured two strategic hills that overlook the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, al-Ghalia and Syriatel.

The military was attempting to capture strategic areas in Sheikh Najjar that overlook the outskirts of the Aleppo central prison, which had been under a rebel siege for over a year.

Soldiers, NDF militiamen and Hezbollah fighters also captured new positions near Base 80, putting them one kilometer from the Tariq al-Bab district.

[48][55] On 27 February, the military reportedly captured Brakat hill, reaching to the east of the al-Sakan al-Shababi area of Aleppo city.

[58][59] The military also claimed to be on the verge of breaking the siege of the prison after capturing 60 percent of the industrial zone and surrounding the rebels in the area.

[13] In early May, government forces captured the Al-Majbal area and the Breij roundabout, thus taking control of the northeastern entrance to Aleppo.

[82] This left the Infantry Academy and the Handarat camp as the only two rebel-held areas the Army would need to capture to complete the siege of Aleppo,[83] after three major rebel supply routes had been cut.

[84] Days later, government reinforcements arrived, which included members of the elite Republican Guards and Hezbollah, and the military captured the villages of Kafr al-Saghir and Moqbila, advancing towards the Infantry Academy.

[86] The slow pace with which the Army advanced since the start of the operation was described as deliberate so the military could have time to consolidate control over captured territory.

However, the attack ended in catastrophe after the rebels were exposed to repeated air strikes, even at night, that made it impossible to move men and weapons freely.

[88] Government forces had also captured two hills[89] and three villages in the western Aleppo countryside,[90] while there were competing claims over the town of Khan Tuman.

[92] Between 20 and 23 August, heavy fighting raged at the Handarat district, which was reportedly being besieged by government forces, while the military claimed to had captured the village of Jbeileh, which the rebels used to conduct attacks on the prison.