SOHR: At least 73 killed in fighting near Aleppo

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Friday that fierce fighting between the Syrian regime and Jaish al Fatah opposition group left at least 73 people dead south of the city of Aleppo and a strategically important village was captured from regime forces.

The attack was launched by an alliance of anti-regime forces known as Jaish al Fatah, including the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

The Khan Touman village is important due to its location near the Damascus-Aleppo highway.

According to SOHR, regime forces lost control of Khan Touman and its surrounding villages after less than 24 hours of clashes.

"At least 43 al Nusra and allied fighters, including a local commander, and 30 on the side of the regime and allied militia were killed in the battle," said SOHR, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.

"The recapture of the area and surrounding villages means that the regime's lines of defence south of the country's second city have been pushed back," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

A 48-hour truce in Aleppo appeared to be largely holding as it entered its second day on Friday.

Regime air strikes on a Syrian refugee camp in the north of the country have killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens, the head of Turkish charity IHH, Abdussalam Shareef, told TRTWorld on Thursday.

The incident occurred near Sarmada in northern Idlib Province, close to the Turkish border.