34 rebels killed trying to advance in Syria's Aleppo: monitor

At least 34 rebels have been killed when they launched an attack on government-controlled areas in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, a monitor group said Wednesday.

The attack was unleashed on Sunday by several jihadi groups, including the al-Qaida Syrian wing Nusra Front, with the aim to advance in these areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The UK-based group added that the Syrian army responded with heavy shelling, triggering battles that left nine Syrian soldiers dead.

A military source told Xinhua that militants attempted to infiltrate into the al-Assad Suburb in western Aleppo at dawn on Sunday, but the Syrian army repelled the attack, after carrying out airstrikes against them.

The attackers were sneaking into the area through the sewage system, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The Nusra group and allied militants unleashed three wide-scale offensives on Syrian military positions in Aleppo over the past couple of weeks.

The army units reportedly repelled the attacks, and engaged in more battles against the assailants.

The government forces backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group and the Russian air force are trying to isolate the rebels in Aleppo and cut their supply lines from neighboring Turkey and other rebel-held areas in northern Syria, while the rebels are fighting to keep such lines opened. Endit