ALEPPO, Syria — At least a dozen people, mostly women and children, were killed July 14 as the Syrian government continued to pound rebel-held areas of Aleppo with airstrikes in a battle for a strategic supply route.

Fierce battles have been raging on a daily basis on the outskirts of Aleppo between regime forces and the Syrian opposition. Fighting escalated after the government launched a major offensive July 7 against the rebel-held sector in al-Mallah, which directly overlooks Castello road, the last remaining supply route between Aleppo and its northern and western countryside. Regime forces were able to control and block the road.

Some 400,000 people still reside in Aleppo, according to Aleppo’s local council statistics.

In an effort to recapture the positions taken by the regime and lift the siege on Aleppo, rebels carried out a counterattack July 9. Opposition fighters initially retook all the positions they lost to the regime in al-Mallah, but were forced to retreat to defensive positions under the heavy bombing targeting al-Mallah and its surrounding areas.