Syria vows to beat back attack on western Aleppo

BEIRUT — Syria’s military said Monday that it is determined to repel an attack on the government-controlled western part of Aleppo as it continued to battle insurgents in intense battles on the city’s edge.

The military said in a statement that opposition fighters have killed 84 people, mostly women and children, since beginning their offensive Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights opposition monitoring group estimates that 51 civilians, including 18 children, and 61 pro-government fighters have been killed.

Rami Abdurrahman, the director of the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground in Syria, said about 70 opposition fighters were killed in the fighting that included airstrikes on the front line.

Amnesty International said the rebel offensive was “marked by indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas.”

An insurgent alliance, known as the Army of Conquest and which includes an al-Qaida-linked group, attacked western Aleppo, aiming to breach a monthslong siege on the rebel-held eastern side of the city.

Its fighters captured al-Assad district on the western edge of government-controlled Aleppo on Saturday, and the village of Minian farther north. On Monday, insurgent media reported that an attempt by government and allied troops to regain control of the village had been repelled.

The Syrian military accused the insurgents of “criminal acts” that included a toxic-gas attack that wounded several people. But, it said, that won’t dissuade its troops from continuing its war on terrorism.