Syria rebels battle regime in Aleppo operation
Two coalitions of Syrian rebels battled to advance in government-held western Aleppo Saturday, seizing an army barracks in one district, but being pushed back elsewhere.
The fighting in the country's former economic powerhouse is some of the fiercest since the Syrian conflict arrived in the northern city in mid-2012.
Elsewhere, government forces launched a major operation to recapture Zabadani, the last opposition-held town in the Qalamun region near Damascus.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes in several parts of Aleppo's west side.
It said fighters from the Conquest of Aleppo alliance of mostly moderate forces had captured Friday a former research centre being used as a military barracks.
"This is a significant strategic step in terms of the battle that has been going on in Aleppo in the past two years," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that it opened up lines of attack against several nearby regime-held districts.
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