Syrian regime regains control of key Aleppo water station

The Syrian regime and its allies have taken over Aleppo's main water supply in a sweeping advance against Daesh, a war monitor said on Tuesday.

Syrian regime forces have recaptured the strategic town of al-Khafsa on the western bank of the Euphrates River, where the water treatment and pumping station is located, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Aleppo's main water supply has been cut off for two months as the battle against Daesh raged on. The city's residents have relied mainly on ground wells or water purchased from private vendors.

Aleppo was Syria's most populous city before the war began nearly six years ago. It has been entirely in regime hands since December when the last rebel enclave in its eastern districts was overrun following months of intense fighting. The regime had been advancing in areas south of al-Bab last month to consolidate territory around Aleppo, including its water source.

Daesh is losing ground in northern Syria to three separate campaigns - by the Russian-backed Syrian regime, by US-backed Syrian Kurdish groups, and by the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army. Turkey considers the main group backed by the US, the YPG, to be affiliated with the PKK which Turkey and the US have designated as a terror group.

As the hold of Daesh weakens in Syria, Turkey, Russia and the US have a tough challenge ahead - to find a mutually agreeable resolution to the Syrian war between Bashar al-Assad's regime and multiple opposition groups while appeasing each stakeholder's territorial demands. On Tuesday, Turkey's military chief of staff met his US and Russian counterparts in the southern Turkish province of Antalya to discuss coordination in Syria.