REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DAMASCUS -- Tens of Syrian troops and affiliated fighters were killed Wednesday in a blast staged by an array of jihadist groups near a Syrian intelligence headquarters in Aleppo, a monitoring group reported.

A part of the Aviation Intelligence building collapsed as a result of the powerful blast that rocked al-Zahra neighborhood in western Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It added that the blast was also followed by an armed attack by those rebels on the area.

The Observatory said the intense clashes are still ongoing between the Syrian government troops backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and the jihadist groups in the al-Zahra area.

Syrian forces are also shelling the vicinity of the conflict zone, including the time-honored citadel of Aleppo and the nearby old covered marketplace, it added.

Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said that the Syrian army had foiled the attack and killed many "terrorists."

Violent clashes have recently raged in Aleppo as the army and Hezbollah are pushing forward against the rebels in the northern countryside of that key province to sever their supply lines from neighboring Turkey.

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