ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian army has released drone footage showing the widespread destruction in Old Aleppo, which it took control of from rebels this week.

Bombed-out buildings and destroyed roads, the result of ground fighting and air strikes, could be seen in the footage released on Thursday as the army pressed ahead with an offensive to retake all of Aleppo, once Syria’s most populous city.

Reuters journalists heard the sound of nine air raids in about half an hour in Old Aleppo, in the center of the city, on Friday. Intense clashes also occurred in Sheikh Saeed in the south of the eastern sector.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that reclaiming Aleppo would swing the course of the nearly six-year civil war in his favor.

Pictures of splendours past: Aleppo before the war: here