New Syria fighting leaves 12 dead despite truce

Aleppo: Air strikes and clashes in Syria's second city Aleppo killed at least 12 people Wednesday, state media and emergency workers said, part of a surge in violence straining a two-month-old ceasefire.

State news agency SANA said that seven people were killed and 35 wounded by rocket and gunfire in several neighbourhoods that it blamed on Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and its allies.

In rebel-held eastern Aleppo, five civilians were killed in two neighbourhoods, according to the civil defence, known as White Helmets.

An AFP correspondent said that regime aircraft targeted one area with barrel bombs and another with missiles.

Following a lull in fighting after the ceasefire took effect on February 27, violence has intensified in recent days, with more than 100 civilians reported dead in air strikes, shelling and rocket fire since Friday.

Once Syria's commercial hub, Aleppo has been divided between rebel control in the east and government forces in the west since 2012.

The fighting has put the ceasefire in jeopardy and overshadowed a new round of UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva that were entering a recess on Wednesday.

More than 270,000 people have been killed in Syria and millions been forced from their homes since the conflict erupted in 2011.