Russia’s feared “Spetsnaz” special forces units have surrounded the Syrian city of Aleppo. 70,000 of Syrian refugees are fleeing the fighting between ISIS and a coalition of Syrian government forces together with Russian special forces and Iranian-Lebanese Hezbollah fighters. The commandos are said to be acting covertly with regime forces in retaking parts of Aleppo from ISIS militants after years of civil war. The Daily Express reports: Russian airstrikes have intensified in recent days in a bid to crush ISIS and rival rebel groups that have laid claim to vast swathes of the city since the civil war erupted in 2011. David Daoud, a Middle East analyst at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, told an American news website: “Russian-Hezbollah cooperation and coordination in Syria has been going on since the outset of Russia’s entry into the civil war.” “Iranian and Hezbollah sources have openly admitted, on a number of occasions, that Hezbollah ground operations during key battles in the war were carried out with Russian air support. “So it wouldn’t be surprising that there’s now cooperation between Hezbollah’s ground forces and Russian special forces.” Old Aleppo The last two days has seen government troops alongside Lebanese and Iranian fighters encircle [...]