Syrian army bombards rebels trying to seize Aleppo | Top News

The groups said they seek to “liberate” Aleppo under their coalition called Ansar al-Sharia.

The monitor said regime warplanes carried out some 40 air strikes, and at least 29 Ansar al-Sharia fighters were killed yesterday.

Rebels fired several hundred rockets and projectiles into at least seven government-held neighbourhoods, with the army returning fire and regime aircraft carrying out raids.

The government still controls about 70 per cent of the city while insurgents hold the rest and a swathe of the eastern Aleppo countryside.

The sources said the fighting in Azaz was between hardline Isil militants and a joint force of al-Nusra and Western-backed rebels who have clashing in northern Aleppo countryside in recent weeks.

The coalition, which includes Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch Al Nusra Front, the rival of the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group, pledged “victory for the Muslims of Aleppo”.

The fall of Aleppo, which is Syria’s major commercial hub, would restrict President Bashar Assad’s control to a territory stretching from the capital city of Damascus to the Mediterranean coast.

The fighting in the country’s ex- economic powerhouse is some of the fiercest since the Syrian conflict arrived in the northern city in mid-2012.

Pierret said the loss of the Scientific Research Centre meant “the regime has lost an important line of defence, which leaves their control of west Aleppo more vulnerable”.

“We will continue our fight in this regard no matter what it costs”.

It said more than 100 “terrorists” were killed in Aleppo and nearby villages.

But he cautioned it was too early to say whether things might “evolve rapidly”, saying the west would prove to be hard terrain for rebel forces because its buildings are ideal for regime snipers and its avenues wide enough for government tanks.

A report released in May by Amnesty global accused the Assad government of committing “unthinkable atrocities” in Aleppo, particularly in regards to its use of barrel bombs which it says cause indiscriminate harm to civilians. Tal has witnessed reconciliation between the government and rebels but is mostly opposition-controlled.

Security sources in Turkey, one of the countries most hostile to Assad, said the Turkish authorities had deployed additional troops and equipment along part of its border with Syria as fighting north of the city of Aleppo intensified, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were no immediate plans for any incursion.

As NPR’s Deborah Amos reports from the Turkish border, the battle surprised the regime, but also surprised more moderate rebels, who tell NPR they are not part of the offensive.