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Activists say airstrikes in northern Syria kill more than 20

Fighting has continued since the truce was announced on Wednesday, particularly in and around Aleppo, with deaths on both sides of the divided city. The rebels however said a fightback was underway to take back lost positions and resecure the road.

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Heavy aerial and artillery bombardment had at times made the Castello Road impassable.

Pro-government forces cut the strategic Castello Road, bringing them close to encircling rebel-held areas of the city.

At least 25 people were killed, including six children, in government-held parts of the northern city and more than 120 were injured when dozens of rebel-fired rockets fell on the area on Friday, the Observatory said.

A second rebel official with fighters in the area said: “All the factions sent reinforcements and are trying to take back the positions taken by the regime, but the situation is very bad; there was heavy regime air cover in the night”.

The Observatory estimates that 250,000 -300,000 people live in opposition-held parts of Aleppo.

Air strikes killed 22 people in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, on the last day of a three day ceasefire announced by the Syrian army.

Russian Federation launched air strikes in support of the Damascus regime in September, one year after the global coalition bombing the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Iraq extended its raids to Syria.

The move puts about 250,000 people living there under siege.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry had welcomed embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s announcement of a ceasefire on Wednesday, saying discussions were under way to try and extend it.

The new advances in Aleppo came after Syrian government forces established control over the village of Maydaa east of the capital Damascus.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) agreed to abide by the cease-fire in an online statement, but accused the regime of violating the cessation of hostilities. However, the fact that Nusra Front battles alongside other rebels in much of the country opened the door for disagreements over the scope of the cease-fire.

Last month, Assad’s allies in the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said they would transfer troops to the Aleppo area.

The White House said the two leaders had “confirmed their commitment to defeating ISIL (IS) and the Al-Nusra Front”.

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The Castello Road wraps around Aleppo’s eastern and northern edges then leads into rebel-controlled territory north of the battered city.

Darkush near the Turkish border is held by Al Qaeda affiliate Al Nusra Front and allied rebel groups which control the northwestern province of Idlib