SYRIAN troops attempted to cut off Western-backed al-Qaida mercenaries pouring reinforcements into east Aleppo yesterday.

The newly dubbed Levant Conquest Front  (LCF) — formerly the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s Syrian branch — claimed it had repelled the army’s counterattack on the Ramouseh district cement factory.

Late on Sunday the force said it was sending many more troops into east Aleppo through the breach made in army lines to the south-west over the weekend in preparation to capture the rest of the city.

The extremist LCF and its allies — groups openly backed by the Western powers — have been re-equipped with the latest anti-tank weapons and body armour.

But the strategy could prove extremely risky. If the army succeeds in reimposing the siege, more militants would find themselves cut off in the rat-trap of the ruined eastern districts.

In response Damascus is bringing in reinforcements, mainly from its reserve militia, to Aleppo to turn the tide back in the government’s favour.

The Iraqi paramilitary Harakat al-Nujaba group said it was sending 2,000 guerillas to Aleppo to aid the government counteroffensive.

Aleppo Governor Mohammad Olabi reassured the 1.5 million residents in the government-held west of the city that vital supplies would continue to reach them despite the LCF advance cutting the main supply route.

A convoy of lorries carrying food, cooking gas and petrol arrived overnight via the more circuitous route to the west of the city.