Rebels get more weapons for battle

Rebels battling the Syrian army and its allies south of Aleppo say they have received new supplies of US-made anti-tank missiles from states that oppose President Bashar al-Assad since a major government offensive began there on Friday.

Rebels from three Free Syrian Army-affiliated groups contacted by Reuters said new supplies had arrived since the start of the attack by the army backed by Iranian fighters and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

But officials from one of the groups said that while new quantities had arrived, the supplies were not enough for the scale of the assault. They declined to be identified due to the sensitivities of the matter. "A few will not do the trick. They need dozens," said one of the officials.

A number of rebel groups vetted by states opposed to Assad have been supplied with weapons via Turkey, part of a programme supported by the United States and which has in some cases included military training by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which monitors the Syrian conflict, said rebels had hit at least 11 army vehicles with guided anti-tank missiles near Aleppo since Friday.

Russia's military said yesterday that its jets hit an Islamic State training camp and command post of al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front in Syria as they bombed 49 targets in the latest wave of strikes.

Russia's defence ministry said in a statement that over the past 24 hours its planes had taken out an Al-Nusra command point in Idlib province in the northwest.

In the coastal Latakia province Russia said its bombing destroyed a "major training camp" of IS, while targets were also hit in the Aleppo, Hama and Damascus provinces.

The United States is working to avoid the "total destruction" of Syria, and plans a meeting in the coming days with Russian, Saudi and Turkish leaders to seek an end to the conflict, Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday.

"I will be coming back in a few days and I will meet with leaders of Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to work through... options that could perhaps reignite the political process and bring about a political transition in Syria," he said on a stop in Madrid.