70 fighters dead in clashes around Syria`s Aleppo

AFP, Beirut :At least 70 fighters have been killed in less than 24 hours of fierce clashes between pro-regime forces, jihadists and rebels in Syria’s Aleppo province, a monitor said Wednesday.Pro-regime fighters — backed by regime and Russian air strikes — retook the villages of Zaytan and Khalasa to the southwest of Aleppo city after losing control of them hours earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.But Al-Nusra Front, Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, launched a counterattack to retake Khalasa on Wednesday morning, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.”Khalasa is on a high hill overlooking large parts of the south of Aleppo province,” he said.The area overlooks the regime’s supply road around the south of Aleppo city, linking the government-held Nayrab airport to the city’s southeast and areas controlled by regime troops to its west, he said.Rebel- and jihadist-held areas in the south of Aleppo province faced heavy strikes and shelling overnight, said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria to gather its information.The regime also pounded a key supply route and areas north of Aleppo city overnight, the Observatory said.The Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the regime, reported Russian air strikes on the province on Wednesday.”Russian fighter jets resumed their missions in Aleppo with force, targeting positions of Al-Nusra Front and allied militias,” it said.Moscow launched air strikes in support of the Damascus regime in September.Aleppo was once Syria’s commercial powerhouse, but it has been a battleground since 2012 when rebels seized the east of the city confining the army to the west.