Fierce fighting in Syria's Aleppo but air raids abate
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BEIRUT - Syria's army and allies clashed on Friday in the south of Aleppo with rebels seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad, a military source, rebels and a monitor said, part of a pro-government offensive to retake Syria's once largest city.
The fighting was concentrated in Sheikh Saeed, a rebel-held district of the city next to Ramousah, where the most intense battles earlier this summer took place, but there were conflicting accounts of whether the army made any gains.
Air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo by the Syrian military and Russian jets remained significantly lighter than during the previous two weeks following an army announcement on Wednesday that it would lessen its bombardment.
"Today there's no bombardment on the neighborhoods in the city, until now. We don't know what will happen in an hour," said Ammar al-Selmo, head of the civil defence rescue organisation in Aleppo.
