BEIRUT: Syrian regime forces edged forward in the northern province of Aleppo on Saturday with air cover from Russian warplanes, but faced fierce resistance from fighters in the country’s center.

Since Moscow began its air campaign in support of its Damascus ally on Sept. 30, the army and its allies have launched four ground offensives against fighters in northern and central Syria. Syrian troops have gone on the attack in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Latakia provinces taking advantage of Russian air strikes against Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and other rebel groups.

Three senior Nusra members, one of them a US-designated “global terrorist,” were killed in an air strike in Aleppo province on Thursday, a monitoring group said.

Regime forces control the western part of Aleppo city — Syria’s pre-war economic hub — but much of the surrounding province is held by fighter groups — Al-Qaeda and others in the west and Daesh in the east.

Troops seized at least five villages and several strategic hilltops south of the city on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. According to Maamun Al-Khatieb, an activist in Aleppo, Russian warplanes had carried out at least 80 air raids on the area since Friday morning.