Smoke billows on Sunday from a location on the southern outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo after regime forces retook control of three military academies from rebel fighters (AFP photo)

BEIRUT — Syrian government troops renewed the siege of rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Sunday, as Washington and Moscow failed to reach a deal on stemming violence in the country's devastating war. State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops have captured the Armament Academy and are “continuing their advance in the area to impose almost a total siege on the gunmen in Aleppo.”

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that government troops captured the academy, adding that insurgents have launched a counteroffensive. BEIRUT, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo on Sunday which rebels seized last month, after heavy bombardments and repeated attempts to drive the insurgents back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia, Iran and the powerful Lebanese Shia group Hizbullah, wants to recapture the whole of Aleppo, which was Syria’s biggest city when the conflict in the country broke out five years ago.
Syrian government forces advance around and encircle Aleppo in order to try and impose a siege.