{ { infobox military conflict
|conflict = Operation Northern Storm
|partof = the Battle of Aleppo and the Syrian Civil War
|image =Aleppo offensive (October 2013).svg
|image_size = 300px
|caption =Situation in Aleppo Governorate as of November 2013|date = 1 October – 1 December 2013() |place = Aleppo Governorate, Syria |coordinates = |map_type = |map_relief = |latitude = |longitude = |map_size = |map_marksize = |map_caption = |map_label = |result = Syrian government victory |territory = Syrian Army captures Khanasir, Al-Safira, Tell Aran, Tell Hassel, Base 80 and 20 smaller villages and towns and reopens the highway to Aleppo |combatant1 = Free Syrian Army Al-Nusra Front Ahrar ash-Sham Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |combatant2 = Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Armed ForcesSyria air force strikes rebels near Damascus, Aleppo: NGO Al Ahram (AFP), 22 October 2013 National Defense Force Hezbollah |commander1 =Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi(Aleppo FSA commander, resigned in Nov.)Abdul Qader Saleh(Al-Tawhid Brigade commander)Top Syrian rebel commander dies from wounds (Reuters), 18 November 2013Abou al-Tayyeb(Al-Tawhid Brigade intelligence chief) |commander2 = Brig. Gen. Suheil Al HassanMaj. Gen. Mahmoud Ramadan (35th Regiment) |units1 = Free Syrian Army: Al-Tawhid Brigade Jaysh Mohammad Brigade Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki |units2 = Syrian Army: 3rd Army Corps (Aleppo) 15th Special Forces Division: 35th Special Forces Regiment 127th Special Forces Regiment 403rd Armored Regiment |strength1 = Unknown |strength2 = 7,000 soldiers |casualties1 = 125+ killed |casualties2 = 105+ killed |casualties3 = 97+ civilians killed | campaignbox = }} The October–December 2013 Aleppo offensive or Operation Northern Storm' was a campaign during the Syrian civil war launched by the Syrian army in the Aleppo Governorate to reopen a key supply route linking central Syria to the largest city, Aleppo. The offensive began when the Syrian Army attacked the strategic town of Khanasir.
Background
In June 2013, after their strategic capture of al-Qusayr, government forces launched an offensive called Northern Storm in Aleppo Province aimed at securing supply lines between disparate patches of control in the province. However, increased rebel pressure in Homs Province led the government to abandon the offensive and redeploy its troops there, leaving its supply lines to Aleppo city vulnerable to attack.
Later in the summer, rebels capitalised on this strategic weakness. In late July, rebels launched an offensive west of Aleppo city culminating in the capture of several suburbs and a massacre of captured government soldiers, and on 5 August, the long-besieged Menagh Airbase in the north of the province fell to the rebels. On 26 August, rebels captured the strategic town of Khanasir, thus cutting the government's last land supply route to the contested city of Aleppo.
Rebels then turned their sights to the government-controlled southern countryside of Aleppo. On 20 September, a coalition of at least ten rebel groups led by Ahrar ash-Sham and the Tawhid Brigade launched an offensive called wal-'Adiyat Dabha against government positions between the southern edge of the city and the defence factories outside of rebel-held Al-Safira. In the first six days of the offensive, rebels made significant advances, claiming to have captured at least 25 villages. In response, government forces from Aleppo International Airport redeployed south to counter the rebel offensive.
The offensive
Capture of Khanasir and reopening of the highway
To reopen supply lines to Aleppo city, the government launched a counteroffensive along the so-called "Desert Road" between Aleppo and Salamiyah, dispatching a large convoy from the latter backed with heavy air support. Khanasir, captured by rebels in August, was the first major objective of the Army as it occupies a critical chokepoint on the road.
On 1 October, the shelling of Khanasir and fighting between the Army and rebels in the vicinity of the town killed at least 20 rebel fighters. The village of Jub al-Ghaws, near of Khanasir was bombed by helicopters while, according to SOHR, rebel fighters hit a fighter airplane above Khanasir.
On 2 October, according to SOHR, the Syrian Army progressed in Khanasir, taking control of parts of the city while a large number of rebel positions were hit by the Air Force in the province; al-Atareb, Khan al-A'sal, Kafrnaha and Minnegh military airport.