Syrian regime and allies torpedo ceasefire with Aleppo offensive

The al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is understood to have shot down the warplane, capturing its pilot.

A statement by the Syrian army claimed the operations came in response to repeated violations of the ceasefire by Syrian rebel factions in the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organisation that tracks the war, said airstrikes, artillery and rockets were being used in an attack aimed at recovering the town of Telat al-Eis, captured by rebels in recent days.

The Observatory said government forces had made progress, but had not been able to recapture Telat al-Eis.

I blame the regime in the first degree, and the Islamist groups and the rebels, because any action by their fighters, even the Nusra Front, is done under orders from regional countries - Rami Abdul Raham, SOHR

A rebel told Reuters it was the heaviest attack in the south Aleppo area since the start of the "cessation of hostilities" deal agreed by Russia and the United States in February.

Hany al-Khaled of the Sham Revolutionary Brigades group, an affiliate of the Levant Front, said the attack had been repelled and militias fighting with the government - including Lebanese Hizballah and Iraqi factions - had suffered heavy losses.

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The main anti-regime group operating in the area is the local Syrian al-Qaeda franchise, known as the Nusra Front, which is not included in the ceasefire. 

However, other rebel factions have joined forces with the jihadists in recent weeks to attack regime-held positions south of Aleppo, underscoring the complexities of maintaining the ceasefire as well as raising questions over the peace process.

On Friday, fighters with the jihadist Nusra Front spearheaded the attack on the contested town of Telat al-Eis, which lies southwest of Aleppo city on a supply route linking Hama and Aleppo provinces.

Nusra worked with other Islamist groups as well as moderate rebel factions, including ones represented in the peace talks such as Jaish al-Islam.

The rebel offensives followed a Syrian airstrike last week that killed 33 people in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Deir Assafir. The attack brought condemnation from France and the United States.

Speaking to The Los Angeles Times at the time, Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Syrian observatory, said the rebel offensive in southern Aleppo had been weeks in the making, and blamed both sides for the violations.

"I blame the regime in the first degree, and the Islamist groups and the rebels, because any action by their fighters, even the Nusra Front, is done under orders from regional countries," Abdul Rahman said in a phone interview on Sunday.

"The cease-fire is over in those parts of Syria. There will have to be a response by the government," he said.

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