(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Two coalitions of Syrian rebels battled to advance in government-held western Aleppo yesterday, seizing an army barracks in one district but being pushed back in others.
The fighting in the country's former economic powerhouse is some of the fiercest since the Syrian conflict arrived in the northern city in mid-2012.
Elsewhere, government forces launched a major operation to recapture Zabadani, the last opposition-held town in the Qalamun region near Damascus.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes in several parts of western Aleppo.
It said fighters from the Conquest of Aleppo alliance of mostly moderate forces on Friday captured a former research centre being used as a military barracks, opening up lines of attack against several nearby regime-held districts.
A video online showed the facility's capture, with fighters from one group firing in the air, the three-starred flag of the Syrian uprising behind them.
Yesterday, fierce clashes raged around the complex as regime forces backed by air strikes sought to recapture it.
Conquest of Aleppo and a second rebel grouping, Ansar al-Shariah, which is dominated by Islamists and Al Qaeda's local affiliate Al Nusra Front, began operations against government-held districts of Aleppo this week.
The attacks have prompted heavy fighting and bombardments, with rebels firing hundreds of rockets and the government launching dozens of air strikes.
The assault began on Thursday, when Ansar al-Shariah attacked several neighbourhoods including Zahra, where an air force intelligence facility is based.
The coalition initially made progress, but was pushed back by government forces on Friday night, the Observatory said.
The monitor said regime warplanes carried out some 40 air strikes, and at least 29 Ansar al-Shariah fighters were killed on Friday.
There was no immediate toll for regime forces.
In the Qalamun region, government forces backed by Lebanon's Shia movement Hezbollah began a battle to capture the last rebel-held town in the area, which lies north of Damascus on the Lebanese border.
"Army units supported by the Lebanese resistance this morning launched a major operation in the Zabadani region in Damascus province," Syrian state television announced.
The Observatory confirmed heavy fighting was under way between regime forces and their allies and rebels in the vicinity of Zabadani, which was one of the first towns to fall to the opposition in 2012.
It said at least 22 barrel bombs had been dropped on the town and its surroundings yesterday alone, but had no immediate toll.
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