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00:00From the safety of this displacement camp, men, women and children await the news coming out of Aleppo.
00:07They are part of more than 10,000 families, estimated to have fled the recent escalation in Syria's civil war.
00:15And they are hoping for a swift return home.
00:22We lived a tragic life in the village.
00:24There were rockets shelling and airstrikes from the planes on one side and drones on the other side.
00:30Our children were terrified.
00:35So we left and came here with our clothes and nothing else.
00:39God willing, we will be victorious over Bashar al-Assad's regime and return to our area safely.
00:45The surprise offensive led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahir al-Sham began on Wednesday.
00:51In the days since, rebel groups have seized territory across northwestern Syria.
00:56And on Saturday, they released this footage in front of Aleppo's landmark citadel,
01:01claiming to have captured the city from the hands of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
01:06Armed insurgents dressed in camouflage stormed government buildings and tore down monuments.
01:12The regime responded with airstrikes from Russian bombers, the first on Aleppo since 2016.
01:19But some civilians have been undeterred by the fighting.
01:23I haven't set foot in Aleppo since 2012 and this is the first time I've entered a citadel since.
01:28According to a war monitoring group, Syrian government soldiers, security forces and police officers have fled the city
01:35and have been replaced by the rebel groups.