The army soldiers on Thursday also killed at least 20 al-Qaeda-linked militants, including a commander, during the operation.

“Rebels, including fighters from the Nusra Front and the Islamic Front, launched an assault today on the barracks in Hanano in Aleppo,” the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“It’s strategically important because it’s on a hill that overlooks parts of northern Aleppo,” it added.

Once Syria’s economic hub and its largest city, Aleppo has been divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east since shortly after combat began there in mid-2012.

State television also reported the rebels had “detonated explosives in three tunnels around the barracks.”

Army forces also have advanced around some of the eastern outskirts of Aleppo city, reopening its international airport to the east.

The air force has also waged a relentless campaign against eastern parts of the city, including dropping explosives-packed “barrel bombs.”

Government troops also sought to push forward with an offensive against besieged neighborhoods of Old Homs, as a rebel and a lieutenant in the National Defense paramilitary group were killed in the clashes, it added.

The Syrian army launched an assault Tuesday against the rebel-held neighborhoods in Homs and “have achieved key successes” and “killed a number of terrorists,” Syrian television said.

BA/BA