DAMASCUS, May 21 (Xinhua) -- At least six civilians were wounded on Tuesday by renewed mortar shells fired by the rebels on residential areas in the northern city of Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported.
The mortar fire targeted several residential areas in Aleppo in the afternoon, causing injuries and property losses, said the report.
The wounded were rushed to the city's hospitals to get medical treatment.
In response, the army fired on the rebels' positions in the countryside of Aleppo, said the report.
SANA accused the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front of repeatedly targeting Aleppo with mortar shells.
This comes as the Syrian Army and the rebels of the Nusra Front are fighting in the countryside of Hama province in central Syria.
The army on Tuesday foiled a renewed attack by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the umbrella group of the Nusra Front, in the northern countryside of Hama.
Adjacent areas in the countryside of Hama, the countryside of Idlib as well as areas in the countryside of Latakia province and Aleppo are considered as the last rebel strongholds in Syria.
Late last month, the army went on an offensive to dislodge the rebels from northern Hama countryside after the HTS violated the de-escalation zones' deal brokered by Turkey and Russia in September 2018.
The Syrian Army said its targeting of the rebels comes as a result of the rebels' breaches of the deal, supposed to see the withdrawal of the al-Qaida-linked groups from the designated zone, which didn't take place.
On the contrary, the HTS and likeminded groups dislodged less radical rebel groups from Idlib and took over the entire province.
