The Syrian regime has hit rebel positions, as the US announced additional aid and Russia slammed countries for recognising the opposition.

Syria’s regime has unleashed tanks and warplanes against rebels as battles rage, after France recognised the newly united political opposition and raised the prospect of arming its fighters.

Tanks on Wednesday shelled two refugee camps in southern Damascus, where fighting has intensified since the army put down a rebel assault in the southern belt of the capital city where anti-regime sentiment runs strong, a watchdog said.

Fighter jets bombed Maaret al-Numan, a northwestern town rebels captured last month in a major blow to the regime’s ability to reinforce troops under attack in second city Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.