Three people were killed on Wednesday in renewed shelling by Syrian rebels of government-held areas in the deeply contested northern city of Aleppo, state media and opposition activists said, according to ABC News.

The violence in the city — Syria's largest and once its key commercial center — has been going on for the past 13th days despite intense diplomatic efforts to restore a limited cease-fire that began in late February. The UN Security Council is due to meet later Wednesday to discuss the escalation.

Nearly 300 people have been killed during this latest spate of violence in Aleppo, which has put the city at the center of the Syrian conflict and shattered the partial cease-fire. Over the last two weeks, hospitals and civilian areas in the divided city have come under attack from government warplanes, as well as shelling from rebel forces.

State TV said government troops repelled an overnight rebel attack on an Aleppo suburb controlled by the government.

Pro-opposition activists confirmed that report, adding that government forces regained control of a former mall that had become a new front line with rebel fighters in the western part of the city.

Source: MENA