Iranian military advisers among casualties in fierce fighting near Aleppo

Thirteen military advisers with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been killed in Syria in recent days and 21 others wounded, Iranian media reported Saturday.

All were from Iran's northern province of Mazandaran, Hossein Ali Rezayi, a Guards spokesman in the region, told the ISNA and Fars news agencies.

The casualties happened in Khan Tuman village some 10 kilometres southwest of the battleground city of Aleppo, according to a Guards statement, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Pro-government troops had driven rebels out of Khan Tuman in December, but fighting between government forces and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and its allies killed more than 70 people south of Aleppo, a monitor said Friday.

The Nusra Front and allied rebels seized Khan Tuman and surrounding villages after less than 24 hours of clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Around 30 pro-government troops were killed in the battle, said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.

Russia said on Friday that a temporary truce in Aleppo had been extended for 72 hours "in order to prevent the situation from worsening".

More than 300 civilians were killed in two weeks of fighting in the divided city before the truce took hold Thursday, in regime air strikes on its opposition-held east and rebel shelling of the government-controlled west.

Iran is Syria's main regional ally, sending financial and military aid, including military advisers and volunteer forces from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, to prop up President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Dozens of Iranian "advisers" have been killed in Syria since late 2015, including Revolutionary Guards commanders.