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BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic militants and rebels in Syria have launched a coordinated offensive on government-held neighborhoods in Aleppo, setting off some of the heaviest fighting there in months.
Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, and the ultra-conservative Ahrar al-Sham group, have formed a coalition called Ansar al-Sharia, which they say aims to "liberate" the northern city.
Activists say the attacks started early yesterday and the government responded with airstrikes and shelling that killed at least 35 militants. There have been no casualty figures for government troops.
Aleppo once was Syria's industrial and commercial hub, but it has been carved up between government and rebel-held neighborhoods since 2012. Three years of fighting have devastated the city and many residents fled long ago.
Meanwhile, Syrian state TV says a bomb exploded inside a mosque in an opposition-held suburb of Damascus, killing a Sunni Muslim cleric. The report says the bomb was placed under the pulpit and went off shortly after the midday prayers ended. It was not immediately clear who was behind the killing.
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