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 The capture of Khan Touman was a rare setback for government
forces in Aleppo province in recent months, and for allied Iranian
troops who suffered heavy losses in the fighting.
Warplanes continued to strike around the town on Monday, and had
carried out more than 90 raids in the area since Sunday morning, the
British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Al Manar television, run by Damascus's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, said
troops had destroyed a tank belonging to insurgents and killed some
its occupants.
Khan Touman lies just southwest of Aleppo city, which is one of the
biggest strategic prizes in a war now in its sixth year, and has
been divided into government and rebel-held zones through much of
the conflict.
Russia's military intervention last September has helped President
Bashar al-Assad reverse some rebel gains in the west of the country,
including in Aleppo province.
 The Observatory said warplanes struck rebel-held areas of the city
early on Monday, and rebels fired shells into government-held
neighborhoods, despite a Russian-announced extension of a truce
encompassing the city of Aleppo.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, hosting a meeting of
Assad's opponents in Paris, said Syrian government forces and their
allies had bombarded hospitals and refugee camps.
"It is not Daesh (Islamic State) that is being attacked in Aleppo,
it is the moderate opposition," he said.
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Ayrault said Monday's meeting would call on Russia to put pressure
on Assad to stop the attacks, adding that humanitarian aid must be
allowed to reach those in need.
"Talks must resume, negotiations are the only solution," he said on
radio RTL, ahead of a meeting of ministers from the United States,
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Britain. Also
attending was Riad Hijab, chief coordinator of the main Syrian
opposition negotiating group.
The surge in bloodshed in Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the
civil war, wrecked a February "cessation of hostilities" agreement
sponsored by Washington and Moscow. The deal excluded Islamic State
and al Qaeda's Syrian branch, the Nusra Front.
Peace talks in Geneva between government delegates and opposition
figures, including representatives from rebel groups, broke up last
month without significant progress.
(Reporting by John Davison in Beirut and Geert De Clercq in Paris;
Editing by Dominic Evans)
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