Dozens of government tanks have converged on Syria’s largest city as president Bashar Assad marshalled his forces to stamp out a five-day rebel fight to wrest Aleppo from the regime’s grasp.

The UN peacekeeping chief said today there are strong suspicions that pro-regime fighters were responsible for some of the 108 victims of a massacre in Syria, along with heavy weapons illegally fired by government forces.

The French foreign minister was today on standby return to the Middle East to help win the release of two hostages as experts analysed whether a ransom demand was authentic.