Zeenews Bureau
Aleppo: Unprecedented fighting was reported in Syria's second biggest city of Aleppo, where the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) launched a decisive battle.
According to the residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “The fighting is unprecedented and has not stopped since Thursday. The clashes used to be limited to one or two blocks of a district, but now the fighting is on several fronts."
Residents in the central districts of Sulimaniyeh and Sayyid Ali also said that the fighting had spread to previously peaceful areas.
According to the Syrian Observatory, clashes were also ongoing in Sakhur in the east, where army shelling attacks would be followed by five minutes of machinegun fire and a brief stop, then the shelling would begin again.
The sky in Aleppo has been clouded with dust and smoke since last night until the morning because of the intense bombing and shelling.
On Thursday, the UN said the number of Syrians fleeing to other states could exceed 700,000 by the end of the year.
More than half a million are believed to have already crossed into Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, but only 294,000 have registered with the UN.
UN agencies and other humanitarian groups have issued a funding appeal for $488m (£300m) to help them meet the needs of the refugees.
With Agency Inputs
First Published: Friday, September 28, 2012, 14:57