allowed to enter.

'Fled with nothing'

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Saturday that 30,000 people had been displaced by the government's offensive on IS jihadists.

The Russian-backed push is aimed at IS-held Khafsah, the main station pumping water into Aleppo.

Residents of Syria's second city have been without mains water for 48 days after the jihadists cut the supply. Regime forces retook full control of the city last year.

On Sunday, Russian and regime warplanes bombarded IS positions in support of Syrian troops, which had advanced to around 14 kilometres (nine miles) from Khafsah, the Observatory said.

Since war broke out in Syria in March 2011, more than half of its population has been forced to flee their homes.

Aleppo province hosts tens of thousands of displaced Syrians, many in campsthe violence.

Another round of UN-brokered peace talks ended Friday in Geneva. The negotiations between government and rebel delegations limped along for several days but stumbled on the issue of counter-terrorism.

Russia began its air war in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces in September 2015, and its help has been instrumental in re-capturing large areas from IS and rebels, including Aleppo and the famed desert city of Palmyra, which fell from jihadist hands last week.

Rebel backer Turkey sent its own troops into Syria in August to fight both IS and Kurdish forces, some of which Ankara considers "terrorists".

(AFP)

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