ALEPPO, Syria,6 (Reuters) – Syrian army tanks shelled Aleppo and a helicopter gunship strafed rebel positions with heavy machinegun fire as they fought into early today for control of the country’s biggest city and key battleground of the 17-month uprising.
After U.N. Security Council paralysis on Syria forced peace envoy Kofi Annan to resign last week, and with his ceasefire plan a distant memory, rebels have been battered by a government onslaught in Aleppo and the capital Damascus.
The main focus of fighting in Aleppo has been the Salaheddine district, a gateway into the city of 2.5 million people, where Reuters witnessed heavy fighting.
Tanks pounded alleyways where rebels sought cover. One shell hit a building next to the Reuters reporting team, pouring rubble on to the street and sending billows of smoke and dust into the sky.
State television said Assad’s forces were “cleansing the terrorist filth” from the country, which has been sucked into an increasingly sectarian conflict that has killed about 18,000 people and could spill into neighbouring states.
In Damascus, troops backed by fighter jets have kept up an offensive against the last rebel bastion there in recent days.
Syria’s two main cities had been relatively free of violence until last month when fighters poured into them, transforming the war. The government largely repelled the assault on Damascus but has had more difficulty recapturing Aleppo.
Rebel commanders say they anticipate a major Syrian army offensive in Aleppo and one fighter said they had already had to pull back from some streets after army snipers advanced on Saturday under cover of the fierce aerial and tank bombardment.
“The Syrian army is penetrating our lines,” said Mohammad Salifi, a 35-year-old former government employee. “So we were forced to strategically retreat until the shelling ends,” he said, adding the rebels were trying to push the army back again.
Late on Sunday rebels clashed with the army in Aleppo’s south-eastern Nayrab district, a fighter who called himself Abu Jumaa said. The army responded by shelling eastern districts. There were also clashes on the southern ring road, which could be a sign the army was preparing to surround the city.
RUINS
Once a busy shopping and restaurant district where residents would spend evenings with their families, Aleppo’s Salaheddine district is now white with dust, broken concrete and rubble.
