Syria army retakes flashpoint Aleppo district

Syrian forces said they had secured a flashpoint district of Aleppo city on Monday after a week of fighting, although an AFP correspondent said some parts were still unsafe for residents to return. The district of "Midan is under the control of the army," a military source told AFP, in a report backed up by the correspondent on the ground. "We came back to our homes when we heard the army controlled Midan, but there was no electricity," a man said. "We waited for two hours and it didn't return. We will go back when it is fixed." But not all areas were safe and an army checkpoint had been set up near the Midan police station, also retaken by the army, to prevent residents from returning to their homes in the so-called "fourth zone" of the district. The correspondent reported seeing the bodies of nine rebels lying in the streets near the fourth zone and that the sound of gunfire could be heard. One man was turned away at an army checkpoint after being told there were still snipers in the area and it was not safe to enter. Aleppo's provincial governor, Mohammed Wahid Akkad, promised on Sunday that water supplies would be up and running in two days. "Let people give us 48 hours and the water will be working again," he told AFP. A key water main burst during fighting last week. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four rebels were killed in fighting in several districts of the northern city, which has been the scene of battles since July 20. A clash broke out near a building of the feared air force intelligence service and rebels also attacked a military post in New Aleppo area, as fighting took place in the northeast district of Hanano, the western area of Zahraa and in Sukari to the south. Two people were killed in shelling of the city's Sakhur neighbourhood, while a boy and girl were killed in bombing of the Aleppo provincial town of Kfar Hamra, the Observatory said. The Britain-based monitoring group also reported that the army shelled the strongly pro-rebel district of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad in Damascus in preparation for storming it. "According to initial reports, one person has been killed there, and several have been injured," it said. In the central city of Homs, the army resumed shelling several districts that it has claimed to have under its control, such as Baba Amr, Jurat al-Shiyah and Sultaniyeh. "Though the army said it retook these districts completely from rebel hands, the fact is that the rebel army still stages assaults and tries to re-enter the districts," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. Districts of Homs that are still under rebel hands -- such as the Old City -- have been shelled daily for more than three months and are under a suffocating army siege. In the northwestern province of Idlib, three members of the same family, including a woman, were killed by pro-regime gunmen in the town of Tamanaa, said the watchdog. In total, the Observatory said at least 41 people were killed in violence around the country on Monday, following 148 the previous day.