THE Syrian army took full control of the only road into the insurgent-occupied east of Aleppo yesterday.

After defeating fierce counter­attacks by extremists on their positions in the Mallah Farms area on Saturday night, government troops took Castello Hill, overlooking the key Castello Road, and advanced around half a mile to the south.

“It’s completely cut,” Zakaria Malahifji of Aleppo-based insurgent Fastaqim told Reuters.