DAMASCUS: Syrian troops backed by helicopters pushed an offensive in Aleppo into a second straight day on Sunday. Rebel fighters, patrolling some districts in flat-bed trucks flying green-white-and-black “independence” flags, said they were holding off Assad’s forces in the south-western Aleppo district of Salaheddine, where clashes have gone on for days.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem said on a visit to Iran that rebels will be easily crushed.”Today I tell you, Syria is stronger... In less than a week they were defeated (in Damascus) and the battle failed,” Moualem said.

“So they moved on to Aleppo and I assure you, their plots will fail.” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, described the situation in Aleppo as “a full-scale street war,” with fighting in the Sukari, Fardoss and Jisr Al Hajj neighbourhoods.

Agencies