Syrian rescue workers help residents to escape from a collapsed building after a barrel bomb attack by President Assad’s forces in Aleppo.

The attack, in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Fardous, is the latest in a series of raids by government forces in the city using improvised explosives.

The violence in the north of the country comes as the regime suffered a setback in the south, when after five hours of fighting rebel forces overran the 52nd Brigade base in Daraa province with ease.

Opposition sources said the victory came after regime troops made an apparent tactical retreat. It came amid indications that the Assad regime is consolidating its embattled defences in strategic strongholds. Diplomats are describing it as a de facto partitioning of Syria.