The Syrian military has extended a nationwide ceasefire which expired on Friday for another 72 hours, state media reported.
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In the summer of 2012, thousands of armed militants stormed residential districts of Aleppo from its countryside, striking the economic nerves of the Syrian government, which has repeatedly accused Turkey of supporting the rebels for undeclared interests in Aleppo.
Rebels launched an attack against government positions in the historic center of Aleppo on Monday in response to an offensive that cut a road leading into the opposition-held sector of the city, monitors and insurgents said.
Syrian warplanes bombarded rebel-held areas in the city, the British-based Observatory said.
The attack follows a failed attempt by rebels to re-open the Castello Road, the only way out of the rebel-held east for some 300,000 people living there.
An air strike hit a local field hospital in the town of Ahsem in Idlib province, killing three people, including a child, an worldwide charity and an aid worker said.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that despite a heavy assualt, rebels had been unable to advance beause of the “heavy aerial bombardment the regime is carrying out on the areas where fighting is under way”. Opposition also control pockets of territory elsewhere in western Syria.
Activists and rights groups including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have reported deaths from starvation in some besieged areas.
Then by Saturday, the Syrian regime forces imposed full control over the Castello Road, putting rebels under heavy siege.
The Syrian army and the Russian military, which also backs president Bashar al Assad, have periodically announced a number of temporary localized truces in areas of intense fighting.
Alessandra Vellucci said on Tuesday that the Castello road, considered the only access in and out of eastern Aleppo, has been rendered “impassable” since hostilities there worsened last week.
“We have recaptured Bani Zaid district from pro-Assad militias after bombing their strongholds and destroying two tanks”, Salloum said, adding that 18 regime forces were killed in the clashes.
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More than 280,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
