Reports: Syrian troops capture high point in city of Aleppo

In this photo taken Sept. 26, 2016 and provided by the local council of Aleppo city, Syrians workers clean damaged after airstrikes, in Aleppo, Syria. The opposition-held districts of the Syrian city have been surrounded and under siege for months. Russian and Syrian warplanes are bombing the streets into rubble and government forces are chipping away at the pocket of opposition control. (Local Council of Aleppo City via AP) (The Associated Press)

BEIRUT – Syrian state media and opposition activists say government forces and their allies have captured a high point in the city of Aleppo where fighting with rebel groups resumed over the weekend.

The SANA news agency said on Monday that the government troops took the hilltop of Bazo on the southern edge of Aleppo, near military bases.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Bazo was taken amid heavy bombardment. The Observatory and the Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective, say that government forces are shelling the eastern, rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo.

SANA says rebels shelled government-held neighborhoods, killing one person and wounding seven.

Fighting returned to Aleppo on Saturday night, after a lull meant to allow rebels and civilians to leave the eastern districts expired without anyone leaving.