Syrian rebels and troops have waged intense battles around a historic souk in the northern city of Aleppo after they suffered severe damage from a weekend fire.
Meanwhile army shelling and air raids have killed dozens of civilians in flashpoint towns of Syria’s conflict, while at least 18 soldiers have died in a rebel attack in the centre of the country, a monitoring group says.
“Twenty-one civilians, including eight children, were killed in bombing on the town of Salqeen, and the number is expected to rise because many are in critical condition,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.
In Homs province of central Syria, at least 18 soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded “by improvised explosive devices in an ambush of their convoy on the highway linking Damascus to Palmyra,” said the Britain-based group.