BEIRUT: A pro-government media outlet says Syrian troops have launched an offensive to retake a strategic hilltop village south of Aleppo from insurgents, including al-Qaida's local affiliate. Al-Manar TV says the attack on Tel al-Ais was launched on Tuesday. Al-Manar is run by Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces. The village overlooks a supply line connecting the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, parts of which have been held by insurgents since 2012. A coalition of insurgent factions captured Tel al-Ais earlier this month after heavy fighting despite a US and Russian-brokered cease-fire, which excludes the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist-run monitoring group, says clashes are ongoing around Tel al-Ais and the nearby village of Khan Touman.