FRONT VIDEO: Fierce Clashes among Syrian Army, Fath Al-Sham Militants

A coalition of terrorist groups, led by Syria’s rebranded al-Qaeda branch, launched an assault on government positions in Aleppo on Sunday.

Fath al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front, recently changed its name and said it was severing ties with al-Qaida in an apparent attempt to evade Russian and US-led airstrikes.

Fighting in Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial capital, intensified in recent weeks.

Terrorists captured the eastern part of the city in 2012 and have been locked in a brutal stalemate with government forces since then.

The terrorists’ assault on Sunday targeted army positions at a cement factory southwest of Aleppo. But opposition activists and militant websites on Monday said that the insurgents retreated following a massive government counterattack.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war through a network of activists on the ground, said at least 35 terrorists were killed in the fighting.