Syrian army presses Aleppo campaign as rebels retrench

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army and its allies, backed by Russian air power, are keeping up a heavy bombardment of insurgent positions in and around Aleppo, rebels said on Monday, pressing to complete their recapture of the city's strategic southern gateway. After re-imposing a siege on rebel-held eastern Aleppo with an advance in the city's southwest on Sunday, the army and its allies now aim to block the insurgents from bringing in reinforcements, a Syrian military source said. The city, Syria's largest before the war, has become the most important front for both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies and for the rebels seeking to bring him down.