Fighting in Syria’s Aleppo forces thousands to flee

BEIRUT – Syrian troops exchanged fire with rebels in the contested northern city of Aleppo on Thursday in a renewed bout of fighting that could further mar peace talks underway in Geneva while the Islamic State group attacked rebel-held areas in the country’s north, forcing thousands to flee toward the border with Turkey.

The renewed fighting underscores the fragility of the cease-fire that has largely held for several weeks despite deep differences between government and opposition representatives in U.N.-brokered peace talks. Those negotiations resumed Wednesday in Geneva, with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura meeting Syrian opposition representatives.

Government representatives are expected to join the talks Friday. The two sides have yet to negotiate directly, with de Mistura instead shuttling between the camps. The most obvious public difference between the two sides revolves around the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Opposition representatives have insisted that Assad be removed from power as part of any peace deal, while government officials have declared Assad to be a red line.

During the fresh IS offensive on rival insurgent groups, the extremists captured at least one village Thursday before being forced to retreat from several areas after a counteroffensive and airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, activists said.

Government warplanes, helicopter gunships and artillery were bombarding rebel-held parts of the city and its suburbs, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Aleppo-based activist Bahaa al-Halaby.

Aleppo has seen sporadic clashes despite a U.S.-Russia-engineered truce that went into effect in late February. Government forces and their allies have rebel-held parts of Aleppo almost surrounded from all sides.

“Areas close to the front lines are tense,” said al-Halaby, speaking via Skype as explosions were heard in the background. He said several shells were falling every minute on the city and its suburbs.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition struck areas controlled by the Islamic State group near Syria’s border with Turkey, according to a Turkish news agency. The militant IS group and al-Qaida’s Syria branch, known as the Nusra Front, are not part of the cease-fire in Syria.

Coalition jets struck Islamic State militants in the villages of Souran, Hawar Kilis and Kafra, reported the private Dogan news agency.

An international aid group said thousands of people have fled the IS offensive toward the border with Turkey, massing near the border crossing point of Bab al-Salameh.

Also Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin – one of President Bashar Assad’s staunchest allies – said Moscow has shored up the Syrian army to the point where it can conduct offensive operations largely on its own following a Russian military drawdown.

As an illustration of the Syrian army’s success, Putin, who spoke in a televised call-in show, said that after Russia withdrew some warplanes from Syria, the Syrian army was able to recapture the ancient town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group.