Reuters, Beirut :
Syrian warplanes carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in Deraa, Hama and Aleppo provinces and insurgents fired rockets at government targets on Thursday, just as peace talks were set to resume in Geneva after a 10-month hiatus, a war monitoring group said.
However, the overall level of violence in western Syria was somewhat lower than in previous days, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In the southern province of Deraa, where clashes have intensified over the past week, Islamist insurgents detonated a car bomb and government helicopters dropped barrel bombs, the Observatory reported.
Government forces meanwhile shelled areas in the northern city of Aleppo’s western outskirts, and Syrian jets carried out air strikes around an area where the army and its allies had advanced on Wednesday, the Observatory said.
The Geneva talks are taking place after nearly two months of an increasingly shaky ceasefire between the government and rebels, with each side accusing the other of violations.
President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran, has gained the military advantage over the past year. Damascus says all insurgents fighting against it are terrorists.
Hard-line jihadist groups such as Islamic State are excluded from the truce, which took effect on Dec. 30, brokered by Russia and Turkey, which supports the rebels.
A military media unit run by Syria’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah said on Thursday that Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out a number of air strikes against Islamic State in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, most of which the group controls.
Meanwhile, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels announced on Thursday that they had taken full control of the northern town of Al-Bab from the Islamic State jihadist group after weeks of deadly fighting.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that rebels had overrun the centre of the town, which had been a key IS stronghold just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the border.
“We are announcing Al-Bab completely liberated, and we are now clearing mines from the residential neighbourhoods,” said Ahmad Othman, commander of the Sultan Mourad rebel group.
“After hours of fighting, we chased out the last remaining IS rank and file that were collapsing after the fierce shelling of their positions,” he added.
But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that IS fighters were still present in parts of the town and the rebels were in control of less than half of it.
The rebels launched their offensive to capture Al-Bab last year with the support of Turkish ground troops, artillery and air strikes.
Field commanders from two other rebel factions in the town confirmed the news to AFP.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), we captured the city centre, which was IS’s security zone… The jihadists collapsed, and this morning around 6 am (0400 GMT) we completed the operation,” said Saif Abu Bakr, who heads the Al-Hamza rebel group.
Syrian warplanes carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in Deraa, Hama and Aleppo provinces and insurgents fired rockets at government targets on Thursday, just as peace talks were set to resume in Geneva after a 10-month hiatus, a war monitoring group said.
However, the overall level of violence in western Syria was somewhat lower than in previous days, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In the southern province of Deraa, where clashes have intensified over the past week, Islamist insurgents detonated a car bomb and government helicopters dropped barrel bombs, the Observatory reported.
Government forces meanwhile shelled areas in the northern city of Aleppo’s western outskirts, and Syrian jets carried out air strikes around an area where the army and its allies had advanced on Wednesday, the Observatory said.
The Geneva talks are taking place after nearly two months of an increasingly shaky ceasefire between the government and rebels, with each side accusing the other of violations.
President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran, has gained the military advantage over the past year. Damascus says all insurgents fighting against it are terrorists.
Hard-line jihadist groups such as Islamic State are excluded from the truce, which took effect on Dec. 30, brokered by Russia and Turkey, which supports the rebels.
A military media unit run by Syria’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah said on Thursday that Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out a number of air strikes against Islamic State in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, most of which the group controls.
Meanwhile, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels announced on Thursday that they had taken full control of the northern town of Al-Bab from the Islamic State jihadist group after weeks of deadly fighting.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that rebels had overrun the centre of the town, which had been a key IS stronghold just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the border.
“We are announcing Al-Bab completely liberated, and we are now clearing mines from the residential neighbourhoods,” said Ahmad Othman, commander of the Sultan Mourad rebel group.
“After hours of fighting, we chased out the last remaining IS rank and file that were collapsing after the fierce shelling of their positions,” he added.
But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that IS fighters were still present in parts of the town and the rebels were in control of less than half of it.
The rebels launched their offensive to capture Al-Bab last year with the support of Turkish ground troops, artillery and air strikes.
Field commanders from two other rebel factions in the town confirmed the news to AFP.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), we captured the city centre, which was IS’s security zone… The jihadists collapsed, and this morning around 6 am (0400 GMT) we completed the operation,” said Saif Abu Bakr, who heads the Al-Hamza rebel group.
