Syrian activists reported that regime forces are shelling districts of Aleppo, including the old city and the historic citadel, a world heritage sight, as fierce clashes continue on the ground for control of the key northern city.
Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed told Associated Press the shelling is most intense in the southwestern neighborhoods of Salaheddine and Saif al-Dawla, some of the first areas seized by the rebels when they started last week a push to take over the city after being routed from the capital Damascus.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported heavy fighting and explosions in Aleppo Sunday. While the opposition Syrian National Council said on Sunday that the army was hitting key public institutions in its bombardment of rebel fighters in commercial capital Aleppo, some of historical significance.
The state-run news agency SANA quoted officials in Aleppo as saying that troops would continue to pursue “terrorists” until the city is “purged” of armed groups.
“The battle for Aleppo has not yet begun, and what is happening now is just the appetizer,” a senior Syrian security official in the region said told AFP on Saturday, adding: “The main course will come later.”
