Syria: The Battle for Aleppo (PHOTOS)
A Free Syrian Army fighter speaks into a radio on 10th Street, the front line of clashes between rebels and regime forces in the neighborhood of Salahadin, in Aleppo, Syria on July 31, 2012. Almost all of the estimated 200,000 residents of Salahadin have fled to other areas of the city for safety.
These photos show the Free Syrian Army attempting quick, guerilla-style attacks in the heart of Aleppo, to grab territory from the Assad regime, whose heavy weapons are less nimble.
Rebels have held several key neighborhoods in the southwest, pushing all the way to the gates of the city’s famed citadel. But regime airstrikes have prevented decisive blows in the two-week battle, and Assad's forces are claiming heavy rebel casualties in a ground offensive launched Wednesday on these neighborhoods.
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