PHOTO: Rebels from Ahrar al-Sham in the al-Mallah area north of Aleppo

UPDATE, JULY 1: There is no further information to support the claim of pro-regime outlets on Thursday afternoon that elite forces of the Syrian military have regain territory in al-Mallah Farms.

Pro-rebel sources note that regime aircraft dropped naval mines on the area during the afternoon, following the rebel recapture of the farms on Wednesday.

UPDATE, 1500 GMT: Pro-regime sources claim that the Syrian military has re-entered the al-Mallah Farms area, hours after they were pushed out by rebels.

The outlets assert that the military’s “Tiger Forces” and other units also took positions in the eastern part of the district:

Regime artillery attacks on rebels in al-Mallah:

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Rebels have defeated yet another pro-Assad offensive north of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Last weekend the Syrian military and foreign allies, including Iraqi and Palestinian militias as well as intense Russian airstrikes, attacked the al-Mallah Farms. The area is just to the west of the last major route from the north into opposition-held districts of Aleppo.

The pro-Assad forces soon moved into the northern part of al-Mallah but were unable to advance into the south.

After 48 hours of heavy fighting and stalemate, rebels broke through on Wednesday, beginning with the capture of the al-Isamat area (see map).

As rebel factions announced the takeover of all lost ground, the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra reportedly struck a regime operations headquarters in nearby Handarat. They claimed that a car bomb killed several officers in the attack on the Amreet Medicine Factory.

The Syrian military and foreign militias have tried for months to occupy the Handarat area and cut off the road into Aleppo. By February pro-regime outlets were declaring that the opposition would soon be isolated in the city, a claim repeated by much of mainstream media. However, further attacks have ended in heavy casualties.

At the outset of last weekend’s offensive, Assad supporters said that the outcome was likely to be different because of the involvement of elite units such as the 4th Mechanized Division in operations to the west and north of Aleppo city. Whether those units played a role in the latest assault is still unclear.