You are here:  Syrian rebels launch battle in Aleppo  Beirut:
Syrian rebels said they had launched a major attack in Aleppo on
Thursday at the start of a "decisive battle" to push President
Bashar al-Assad's forces out of the country's biggest city.
Heavy fighting was reported in around 14 districts by opposition
activists and several rebel brigades, though the scale of the
fighting could not be confirmed independently.  A video posted
on YouTube by rebels showed Abdulqadir al-Saleh, the head of the
biggest rebel force in Aleppo, the Tawheed Brigade, carrying a
walkie talkie and announcing the start of the assault.  "Now the
attack on Assad's forces has started on all fronts and God
willing today will be decisive in Aleppo," he said.  The
18-month-old uprising against Assad has killed 30,000 people and
the violence is escalating sharply, say activists. World powers
are meeting at the United Nations but are divided over the
crisis, which has descended into civil war.  The U.N. refugee
agency said up to 700,00