The development comes as France reports it has destroyed an Islamic State training camp in Aleppo province in a joint air raid.
11:52, UK,Thursday 04 February 2016
Rebels in the Syrian city of Aleppo are now surrounded from the north, south and east following advances by government forces and pro-regime fighters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 100 rebel fighters have been killed in the government offensive launched on Monday.
At least 64 regime troops have also died in the operation, which has been backed by Russian airstrikes.
The Observatory said the bombing campaign has been one of the most intensive in recent months with more than 500 targets hit.
On Thursday, government and allied forces entered two Shia villages that had been under rebel siege.
Syria's state news agency SANA said there were "mass celebrations" in the streets of Nubol and Zahraa as residents welcomed the troops.
The Al Manar television station of Lebanese militia Hezbollah broadcast what it said was exclusive footage of crowds embracing soldiers and militiamen, who fired into the air as they arrived.
In the footage, fighters and residents waved the Syrian flag and the yellow Hezbollah flag, and some chanted pro-regime slogans, including "God, Syria, Bashar and nothing else," in reference to Syrian president Bashar al Assad.
The two villages had been besieged by rebels since 2012, and reaching them has been a goal of the government, which has also sought to sever key rebel supply routes into Aleppo.
Once Syria's economic powerhouse, the city has been divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east since shortly after fighting there began.
Meanwhile, France says it has destroyed an Islamic State (IS) training camp in a joint air raid with coalition partners.
The defence ministry said the raid took place on Monday around 60 kilometres northeast of Aleppo and that around 20 planes were involved.
"It allowed us to destroy an important site serving as a training camp and weapons store for Daesh (IS)," the ministry said in a statement.
In another development, US Secretary of State John Kerry has demanded that Russia stops bombing the Syrian opposition, implicitly blaming it for the suspension of peace talks in Geneva.
Reminding Moscow of the UN Security Council resolution passed in December calling for an immediate ceasefire, he said: "Russia has a responsibility, as do all parties, to live up to it."
Mr Kerry was speaking ahead of the international conference in Londonto agree on ways of helping the millions of Syrians displaced by the five-year conflict in their country
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