With the Assad regime directing the full force of its military at Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, the Syrian government is pulling forces out of surrounding towns -- a cause for celebration among rebels there. NBC's Richard Engel reports from inside one of those towns, in northern Syria.
By NBC News and news services
Syria's military pounded a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Saturday, and a BBC News correspondent in the city reported many families were fleeing to the countryside.
"The sound of heavy skirmishing can be heard all around," Ian Pannell reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group, reported helicopter attacks on the central Salaheddine district of Aleppo and fighting elsewhere in the city.?
One opposition activist said he had seen tanks and armored carriers heading for Salaheddine.
The battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city with 2.5 million people, is seen as a crucial test for a government that has committed major military resources to retaining control of its two main power centers, Aleppo and the capital Damascus. ?
While neither side has managed to gain the upper hand, the outcome of the uprising is being watched anxiously in the region and beyond, amid fears that sectarian conflict could spread to neighboring countries.?
Turkey, once a friend but now a fierce critic of the Syrian government, joined growing diplomatic pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.?
On the approaches to Aleppo from the north, Free Syrian Army rebels were in evidence, while a military helicopter clattered overhead in the distance.
One man in his forties, carrying his family on a motorcycle, said he was fleeing the fighting in Aleppo and heading to the town of Azaz near the Turkish border.?
"We are living in a war zone," he told Reuters. "I and my relatives are just going back and back and forth, trying to stay away from the fighting. We left Aleppo when we saw smoke and helicopters firing."
Syria's commercial capital has been attacked again by government forces. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
On the road south from the Turkish border to Aleppo rebel soldiers had set up checkpoints bearing the sign: "This is an FSA checkpoint. May God protect you."?
Military experts believe that while Assad's more powerful military will overcome the rebels in Aleppo and other major cities, it risks loss of control in the countryside because the loyalty of large sections of the army is in doubt.?
"Assad's forces are likely to achieve a tactical victory that will represent a setback to opposition forces and allows the regime to demonstrate its military dominance," said analyst Ayham Kamel of the Eurasia Group, adding however that the rebels were getting stronger while the military was on the wane.?
Three rebel fighters were killed in clashes before dawn on Saturday in Aleppo, the Observatory said. It said 160 people were reported killed in Syria on Friday, adding to an overall death toll of around 18,000 since the uprising began.?
Video footage provided by the Observatory showed smoke rising over apartment blocks in the city into a hazy sky on Saturday. The sound of sporadic gunfire could be clearly heard.?
Fighting was reported in other towns across Syria: Deraaa, the cradle of the revolution; Homs, the scene of some of the bloodiest combat; and Hama, where a revolt against Assad's father in the early 1980s was suppressed with thousands of deaths.?
At least 10 people were killed on Saturday when Syrian security forces went into Maadameyat al-Sham near Damascus, the Observatory said.?
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said late on Friday that international institutions needed to work together to address the military assault on Aleppo and Assad's threat to use chemical weapons against external enemies.
"There is a build-up in Aleppo, and the recent statements with respect to the use of weapons of mass destruction are actions that we cannot remain an observer or spectator to," he said at a news conference in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Earlier, Erdogan had cheered on the rebels.
"In Aleppo itself the regime is preparing for an attack with its tanks and helicopters ... My hope is that they'll get the necessary answer from the real sons of Syria," he told Turkish TV.
Cameron said Britain and Turkey were concerned that Assad's government was about to carry out some "some truly appalling acts around and in the city of Aleppo".
In stating this week that it would not use chemical weapons against its own people, but might do so against external threats, Syria caused major international concern about its stockpiles of non-conventional weapons.?
Russia said international support for Syrian rebels would lead to "more blood" and the government could not be expected to willingly give in to its opponents.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country has vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions intended to increase pressure on Assad, said Western and Arab nations should exert more influence on rebels to stop fighting.
Russia also said it would not allow searches of Russian-flagged ships under new European Union sanctions governing vessels suspected of carrying weapons to Syria.
The increase in fighting in Aleppo follows a bomb attack on July 18 that killed Assad's defense minister and three other top officials in Damascus, a development that led some analysts to speculate that the government's grip was slipping.
Since then, Assad's forces have mounted a strong counterattack against rebels in Damascus as well as concentrating forces for an expected assault on Aleppo.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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