REUTERS
Syrian government forces and their allies on Monday captured strategic high ground in embattled Aleppo as Russia — a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad — said it was not planning more "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting in the city's eastern, rebel-held districts, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The fighting in Aleppo came as airstrikes hit towns in the northwestern province of Idlib, killing at least 13 people, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, the AP said.
They said the people killed were in the towns of Kfar Takharim and Khan Sheikhoun, where a market was hit.
Read alsoReuters: Battle for Aleppo intensifies after ceasefire endsFighting resumed in Aleppo over the weekend, following a days-long lull announced by Moscow that was meant to allow rebels and civilians to leave the eastern districts. The rebels rejected the Russian offer and none of the civilians left.