Syrian soldiers gesture on September 4, 2016 at a location on the southern outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo after regime forces retook control of three military academies from rebel fighters. Syrian government troops seized a military academy south of Aleppo city, once again encircling the rebel-held districts in the east and placing them under siege, a monitor said. Government forces had been advancing in southern Aleppo for days, with the fighting already creating shortages for the estimated 250,000 people living in the rebel-held parts of the city. But the capture of the academies, which straddle the road running to the eastern neighbourhoods, reinstates the government's encirclement of Aleppo. / AFP PHOTO / GEORGE OURFALIAN (Photo credit should read GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images)
