Syrian troops recapture key district in Aleppo

DAMASCUS - Syrian troops on Sunday regained their control of Salahuddien neighborhood, a key battlefield in the week-long clashes in northern province Aleppo, according to reports of a state-run TV.

The state TV said Salahuddien has been purged of armed groups, in reference to rebel fighters.

The neighborhood was the first to fall in the hands of the rebels last week, when they announced the commencement of battles in Aleppo to "liberate it" from government troops. The rebels are the ones who have ignited the spark of fighting in Aleppo.

Meanwhile, the state TV said that the government forces have also succeeded in freeing kidnapped people from the armed rebels in suburbs of the capital Damascus and southern Daraa province.

On the opposition side, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) said the government troops have shelled the areas of Andan, Hraitan and Zbaidieh in Aleppo.

The group said the Salahuddien neighborhood was also subjected to shelling, adding that at least 31 people were killed Sunday nationwide, nine of them in Aleppo.

The LCC claimed that the rebels have taken control of al-Ahdath prison in Aleppo. It also said that 21 people were killed in the government troops' shelling on Sheikh Miskeen town in southern province of Daraa.

The activists' account cannot be independently verified.

Recently, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said around 17,000 people have died across Syria since the beginning of domestic unrest in Syria early last year.

A Free Syrian Army member aims his weapon after hearing shooting in Aleppo July 29, 2012.  [Photo/Agencies]