DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian state media say three people have been killed in renewed rebel shelling of government-held areas in the deeply contested northern city of Aleppo.

State TV says that also on Wednesday, government troops repelled a rebel attack on an Aleppo suburb controlled by the government.

Pro-opposition activists confirmed the 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.

Aleppo, Syria's former commercial center and its largest city, has been at the center of the conflict for the past two weeks, shattering a limited cease-fire that began in late February.

Diplomatic efforts are underway to stop the escalating violence that has killed nearly 300 people there since April 22.