Syria conflict: 'Dozens killed' in Aleppo battle

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• From the sectionMiddle East

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionAleppo was Syria's largest city before the civil war erupted in 2011

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Dozens of people are reported to have been killed in fierce clashes between rebel groups and government forces in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels advanced into government-held western districts overnight but were pushed back by Wednesday morning.

The battle was the most intense in Aleppo for more than a year, it added.

Russia later said attacks by jihadist militants allied to the rebels had disrupted a plan for a temporary truce.

Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that a "regime of calm" in Aleppo lasting 24 hours had been due to take effect on Tuesday.

But, he added, the plan was shelved following deadly ground and rocket attacks on government-controlled areas by al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate.

Meanwhile, activists reported that government warplanes had carried out more than 20 air strikes in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta outside Damascus, after the regime of calm declared by the government around the capital on Saturday expired.

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A surge in fighting in Aleppo in the past two weeks has killed almost 300 people and left the nationwide cessation of hostilities brokered in late February by the US and Russia, which back opposing sides in the war, close to collapse.

A coalition of rebel groups fighting under the name "Fatah Halab" (Aleppo Conquest) launched the assault on the government's defensive lines in the west of the city on Tuesday by exploding a tunnel bomb, the AFP news agency reported.

There were intense gun battles, air strikes and artillery attacks throughout the night, and clashes were still going on intermittently on Wednesday.

There were conflicting accounts of the outcome of the battle.

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionCivilians have borne the brunt of government air strikes in rebel-held Aleppo

The Syrian Observatory, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the rebels initially made gains, but were eventually driven back by government troops, backed by fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.

A rebel fighter told the Reuters news agency that some ground had been captured from the government side, while a military source said the attack was repelled.

The rebel said about 40 pro-government fighters and 10 rebels had been killed, according to Reuters. The military source denied there were heavy army casualties, but said dozens of civilians and many rebels had been killed.

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionRebel rocket attacks have left many civilians dead in government-controlled areas

The state news agency, Sana, meanwhile reported that three civilians had been killed by rockets fired at two government-held districts by al-Nusra militants.

Al-Nusra, which is allied to a number of rebel groups, is excluded from the cessation of hostilities along with the rival jihadist group Islamic State (IS).

The government and its ally Russia say only al-Nusra positions in Aleppo are being targeted, but the opposition and the US accuse them of indiscriminately attacking civilians and rebels abiding by the cessation of hostilities.

Aid agencies say Aleppo is on the brink of humanitarian disaster. Large parts of the city have been destroyed and its infrastructure has been severely damaged, leaving civilians without water and electricity.

The UN Security Council will discuss the violence in Aleppo later on Wednesday.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, will also meet UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura and Syrian opposition leader Riad Hijab in Berlin to discuss efforts to end the five-year war, which has left more than 270,000 people dead.