Syrian rebels have launched a large-scale attack on regime forces in western Aleppo, according to a Free Syrian Army source and local residents, marking the first major flare-up in years between both sides.

Syrian rebels in the last opposition enclave in northern Syria launched on Wednesday a wide-scale military operation against the Syrian army and seized territory in the first such advance in years, army and rebel sources said.

At least 18 people have been killed in fighting between Islamist rebels and Syrian government troops in north-west Syria, activists and a monitoring group said Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said members of Hayat Tahrir al Sham,

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The death toll from clashes between militants and Syrian government forces in north-western Syria has risen to 57, a monitor group said Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 31 Syrian soldiers were killed in the fighting that broke out in the north-west of the country in Aleppo governorate.