Bombardments by troops saw fighting ground to a standstill on Tuesday in Syria’s second city Aleppo, a watchdog said, amid reports a civilian refuge was targeted in the same province.
Water supplies were largely restored in the northern city three days after a main pipeline was ruptured during clashes between government forces and rebel fighters, witnesses and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based Observatory reported shelling attacks on the Aleppo neighbourhoods of Haidariyeh, Hanano, Meyseer and Shaar overnight, and that one rebel had been killed in the fighting.
“The rebels have been trying for three days to enter Midan (in central Aleppo). Last night the army launched an operation and pushed them north, back toward Bustan al-Basha,” a resident told reporters on the phone.
“The city is quiet now,” the resident added.
In the town of As-Safira, “mortar fire from an air defence battalion targeted residential buildings and a school, where many refugees from disaster-stricken areas sought refuge and shelter,” according to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of activists on the ground.