‘More than 200 killed’ in fighting near Syria’s Aleppo

Beirut (AFP) – At least 210 combatants in Syria’s civil war have died in a surge in violence around the second city of Aleppo this week, a monitoring group said on Friday.

Among those killed from Sunday to Thursday were 82 army troops and pro-regime militiamen, 94 members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front and allied rebel groups, and 34 Islamic State group jihadists, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The spike in violence, which has threatened to derail a shaky truce, has seen multiple fronts around Syria’s second city flare up as a new round of peace talks got under way in Geneva.

The heaviest casualties came near Al-Eis in the south of Aleppo province where 50 regime troops and loyalist militia fighters were killed along with 61 Al-Nusra and allied fighters, the Observatory said.