A new Islamist rebel alliance, including al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, was locked in a fierce battle Friday to seize government-held areas of Aleppo, the divided former economic capital. Once a powerhouse of industry, Aleppo has been devastated by years of fighting between regime forces and a succession of rebel groups. Clashes raged overnight as the Islamist alliance, which calls itself Ansar al-Sharia, sought to take control of the air force intelligence headquarters in Zahra, on Aleppo's north-western outskirts, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
According to the British-based monitor, the 13 groups in the alliance announced the launch of the "Ansar al-Sharia operations room" on Thursday. They said the aim was to "liberate Aleppo and the countryside" and "to draft a joint covenant to run Aleppo after its liberation in line with Shariah" Islamic law.
The rebel fighters advanced to take control of several buildings in Zahra despite regime air strikes, according to Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. "There were at least 35 dead among insurgent ranks and dozens of killed and wounded on the regime side," he told AFP. Syrian state television said that the army had "foiled attempts to infiltrate Aleppo on several fronts, killing more than 100 terrorists" - the regime's standard term for all rebel groups.
Ansar al-Sharia launched a multi-district assault on government-held parts of Aleppo city on Thursday, in attacks that killed at least four civilians, the Observatory said. Rebels fired several hundred rockets and projectiles into at least seven government-held neighbourhoods, with the army returning fire and regime aircraft carrying out raids. Fighting resumed Friday morning before dawn on pro-government areas of the Ashrafiyeh and Khaldiyeh neighbourhoods in the city's north and western sectors, the monitor said.
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