Syrian opposition forces and Nusra Front have mounted an offensive against Syrian regime forces and on Saturday took a strategic hill south of Aleppo from regime control, a monitoring group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the offensive began on Friday, and Syrian regime and allied forces were fighting to take back control of the territory and repel further attacks.

A fragile "cessation of hostilities" truce has held in Syria for over a month as the various parties try to negotiate an end to Syria's five-year-old war.

Friday's attack began with three suicide bombings carried out by Nusra Front south of Talat al-'Iss hill. Opposition and Nusra Front forces then took control of the hill, the Observatory and a Nusra Front statement said.

Nusra Front said in the statement it ambushed regime forces as they withdrew toward the town of Hadhar to the east.

The Observatory said the fighting has so far killed dozens of regime forces and at least 16 opposition and Nusra Front members.

Live footage broadcast on pro-opposition Orient News TV on Saturday showed the hill provides a vantage point across a wide area. It also lies near a main highway linking Aleppo to Damascus, Syria's capital, to the south.

PHOTO CAPTION

Smoke rises over the industrial city in Aleppo, Syria February 4, 2016.

Source: Reuters