Syrian government forces have
captured several villages north of Aleppo as they seek to cut a key supply route
for rebels inside the city, activists say.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said heavy fighting had stopped
traffic on the main road to the Turkish border.
Government forces were also battling rebels in several villages to the north
of the city as well, it added.
Aleppo has been divided between rebel and government control since fighting
erupted in the city in mid-2012.
But soldiers, backed by pro-government militiamen and fighters from Lebanon's
Hezbollah movement, have made steady advances since launching an offensive to
retake the rebel-held west of the city last year.