Muhammed Muheisen
In this Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, photo, a Syrian rebel fighter helps a comrade to clean a weapon in a house in Marea, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. Rebels have taken a major stride in uniting their ranks in the battle for Syria’s largest city, giving them hope they could tip the balance in three-months of bloody stalemate in Aleppo, one of the biggest prizes of the civil war.. The question is how much more destruction the city can bear. Regime troops are retaliating with heavier bombardment, and civilians are bearing the brunt, their neighborhoods left in rubble. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Rebels have taken a major stride in uniting their ranks in the battle for Syria’s largest city, giving them hope they could tip the balance after three months of bloody, stalemated combat in Aleppo, one of the biggest prizes of the civil war.
The question is how much more destruction the city can bear.
Government troops are retaliating against more effective rebel attacks with increasingly devastating bombardment, and civilians are bearing the brunt, with their neighborhoods left in ruins.
The new military council was announced Sept. 9.