DAMASCUS - Syria's northern city of Aleppo is witnessing the most intense shelling and clashes since the conflict began there four years ago, following a major offensive the rebels had waged on Friday, a monitor group reported on Sunday.
Hundreds of rockets and unspecified shells targeted government- controlled areas in western Aleppo, as part of the rebels' battle of "Greater Epic of Aleppo," according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The London-based watchdog group said the rebels of Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, one of 12 rebel groups waging the offensive in Aleppo, have received new advanced Grad missile and heavy bombs, whose kind is still unknown.
It said the rebels were heavily using the Grad missiles in their attacks on western Aleppo.
Following their offensive, the rebels, including ultra-radical ones, advanced into the government-controlled area of Assad Suburb in western Aleppo, in their push to break the siege imposed by the Syrian army on rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo.
The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, said the Syrian army was trying to unleash a counter-offensive to recapture areas it lost in the Assad Suburb and the Jamiyet al-Zahra area in western Aleppo.
It said 55 government forces have so far been killed in the attack. (Xinhua)