Syria: New clashes between troops and rebels in Aleppo
Heavy clashes between troops and rebels raged into a second day in Syria’s second city Aleppo on Saturday, activists said, while a tense calm reigned in Damascus after days of fierce fighting.
The fighting in Aleppo came a day after the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to grant a “final” 30-day mandate extension to a troubled observer mission charged with overseeing a peace plan for Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that in Aleppo “battles have been ongoing since Friday morning between regular forces and fighters from rebel units in the Salaheddin neighbourhood.”
The Local Coordination Committees — a grassroots activist network — reported “an exodus of residents of the neighbourhood because of fear of regime bombardment and an offensive” against Salaheddin.