Iranian general killed in Syria fighting

A senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards has been killed in Aleppo province in northern Syria where fierce fighting has also seen Islamic State (IS) group fighters move within a few miles of Aleppo city.

General Hossein Hamedani was killed on Thursday by IS "during an advisory mission" to the region, according to Iranian state media.

Iran, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, has sent Revolutionary Guard forces and military advisers to Syria to help government forces in their fight against rebels seeking to overthrow the Syrian president.

In a statement, the Revolutionary Guard said Hamedani had played an "important role... reinforcing the front of Islamic resistance against the terrorists".

Regional analyst Charles Lister, of the Brookings Institute in Doha, described Hamedani's death as "big news".

IS fighters continued to advance towards Aleppo early on Friday despite hours of fierce fighting with rival rebel groups in which dozens on both sides were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

The advance brought IS fighters to about 20 kilometres from the city's main frontline held by government forces, according to the observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman.

"IS has never been so close to the city of Aleppo," Abdel Rahman told the AFP news agency.

On Thursday, at least 20 people were killed and dozens more injured in a suicide bombing carried out by IS in the opposition-held town of Hraytan in northern Aleppo province, according to the Anadolu news agency.

The victims of the attack included an Anadolu photojournalist, Saleh Mahmoud Laila, the agency said.

IS's advance came as the Syrian army continued its own northern offensive backed by Russian airstrikes on rebel-held areas.

Syrian forces launched a ground assault on Wednesday on the Sahl al-Ghab plain in Hama, which borders the government-held province of Latakia.

Moscow launched new airstrikes on Thursday in Sahl al-Ghab, with one witness telling the AFP news agency that three villages had been hit.

According to the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, which is close to the government, the army captured Latmeen and at least 10 other villages.

"These operations occurred with support from Syrian and Russian planes, and resulted in retaking control," the newspaper reported.