Aleppo fighting focuses on control of routes to and from city

Government forces continued to attack rebel positions in Aleppo for the fourth day Tuesday with artillery, mortars and helicopter gunships. Clashes continued in the Salaheddine quarter in the southwest which commands the Syrian army’s route for reinforcements and where control swings between the two sides. The northeastern Sakhour quarter is under heavy shelling to block incoming rebel supplies. Fighting is also reported outside Air Force Intelligence HQ in the western part of the city.
The rebels are claiming victory in the surrounding countryside – driving Syrian troops out of the town of Al Bab northeast of Aleppo and from the Anand army checkpoint to the north, thereby easing the movement of rebel reinforcements and supplies from Turkey, 50 kilometers away.
DEBKAfile: The fighting now focuses on control of routes running into and out of the city.