Beirut: Attacks by two extremist groups killed at least 17 Syrian government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo early on Saturday, a war monitor said.

Thirty others were wounded in the assaults by Al Qaida's former Syria branch, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, and its ally Hurras Al Deen, which remains affilated to the global extremist network, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.