The Syrian army extended a nationwide truce for another three days but continued Tuesday (July 12th) to battle opposition fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, AFP reported.
In a statement late Monday, the armed forces announced they would "extend the freeze on fighting on all Syrian territory for 72 hours" beginning in the early hours of Tuesday.
It was the second extension to the truce, first announced last week to mark Eid al-Fitr. But the ceasefire has produced little respite in fighting, with ongoing strikes reported around Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Warplanes have been shelling the northern edges of the city and the regime has seized several buildings in Leramun industrial district, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
Opposition fighters were using Leramun and the nearby Bani Zeid neighbourhood to fire rockets and artillery onto regime-held parts of the city, he said.
In recent days, opposition fighters have fired a barrage of missiles into the regime-held western side of Aleppo, killing dozens of civilians, while opposition forces in the eastern part of Aleppo have waged battles with regime troops along the frontline that divides the city.
Abdel Rahman said there was little evidence of the truce taking effect anywhere in the country.
"There are clashes everywhere -- Homs, Hama, Latakia, Aleppo. Only Daraa is quiet," he said.
The Observatory said air strikes hit the Castello Road, the main opposition supply route into Aleppo, on Tuesday. Opposition fighters launched a counter-attack to reopen the road but have made no progress.
With the route effectively shut, there are concerns that the roughly 200,000 residents of opposition-controlled neighbourhoods could face a long siege, the Observatory said.
On Tuesday, the UN said it was "deeply concerned" about the situation in and around Aleppo.
UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said most people in eastern Aleppo "rely heavily on humanitarian assistance" and that access to that side of the city was now "virtually impossible".
