The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched a new offensive on the city of Aleppo on Tuesday, the same day it reportedly agreed to a United Nations plan to suspend aerial bombing and artillery shelling on the northern city.

In the new offensive around Aleppo, the Syrian army is seeking to surround rebels in the city as well as end the siege on two pro-regime villages, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The villages are strategically located by a road that serves as a key supply route for the rebels, leading from the east of Aleppo to the Turkish border.

As they launched the attacks, government forces also began shelling two towns on the road to Nubol and Zahraa, both government-held Shiite villages.

Nubol and Zahraa have been under rebel siege for more than 18 months, and pro-government militants inside the villages have repelled several attacks.

In addition to the government offensive north of Aleppo, fighting has been renewed inside the city of Aleppo itself. Control of Aleppo is divided between the regime in the west of the city and the rebels in the east. AFP reports that clashes have been in the western section of the city.

A Syrian military source told AFP, “This military operation in Aleppo proves the ability of the Syrian army to open multiple fronts at once.” The other front alluded to the Syrian army’s offensive in the south over recent days.

The Aleppo offensive also began on the same day that UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, addressed the UN Security Council on his attempts to establish a ceasefire, including a plan to “freeze” fighting in Aleppo. Mistura said the Syrian government agreed to suspend aerial bombing of the city for six weeks to allow the proposed UN ceasefire plan to be tested.

According to AFP, rebel groups criticized de Mistura for saying that Assad is “part of the solution” to solving the crisis in Syria. The rebels have insisted that any resolution of Syria’s civil war requires Assad’s departure. More than 210,000 people have been reported killed in the conflict.

[Photo: Freedom House / Flickr ]