DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The Syrian army has launched an attack, described as the biggest government assault in Aleppo since February, to recapture the town of Tela'at al-Eis.
Syrian ground forces, supported by heavy and concentrated air raids, targeted the positions of terrorist groups in the area, Lebanon’s al-Ahed news website reported on Wednesday.
The army said in a statement that the operation was a response to the terrorists’ violations of the cessation of hostilities agreement, which entered into force on February 27.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces had made progress but not been able to recapture the town.
The monitor also said a pregnant woman and three children were among 18 civilians killed when terrorists shelled a Kurdish neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo.
The attack by Ahrar al-Sham, which is allied to al-Qaeda in Syria, targeted the Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood which houses some 50,000 residents, it said.  
The observatory said the attack was "a very clear violation of the ceasefire" in place in Syria.
The agreement stipulates the cessation of all military hostilities, except for the operations against the Takfiri ISIL terrorist group and the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.
On Tuesday, a Syrian warplane was shot down in Aleppo by a surface-to-air missile fired by al-Nusra terrorists, who then captured its pilot.
Syrian forces have recently been making rapid advances against terrorists, who are committing heinous crimes against all religious groups, in parts of the country.
ISIL terrorists launched attacks on government-held areas near Damascus overnight on Tuesday in an apparent response to the group's loss of ground elsewhere in Syria, Reuters reported.