Syria truce strained on eve of talks

Syria's landmark ceasefire was threatening to fall apart yesterday amid a surge of fresh fighting, especially in northern Aleppo province, just as peace talks were set to resume in Geneva.

The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who has said the negotiations due to start today would be "crucially important," was in Iran for talks with a key backer of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

This week's round of talks in Geneva will be the second since Assad's regime and rebel forces agreed to a partial truce brokered by Moscow and Washington, which has largely held since February 27.

It has raised hopes that steps may finally be taken towards resolving the five-year-old conflict, which has devastated the country and left more than 270,000 dead.

But concern has been growing that a recent rise in violence focused mainly in Aleppo province, which borders Turkey, is putting intense strain on the ceasefire.

Pro-government forces were yesterday pressing an advance against the town of Al-Eis, held by fighters from al-Qaeda's local affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, and allied rebels, reports said.

Jihadists like those from Al-Nusra and the Islamic State group are excluded from the ceasefire but in some areas the al-Qaeda militants are allied with rebel forces meant to be covered by the truce.

US and its allies stages 13 strikes on Monday against IS  in Iraq and Syria in the coalition's latest daily attack against the militant group, a US military statement said yesterday.