Tanks begin regime assault on Aleppo as fears grow of imminent massacre

Tanks began an assault on suburbs of the Syrian city of Aleppo in the early hours of Saturday as helicopter gunships pounded rebel positions inside the city.

Rebels have vowed to fight to the death for the city, but they are massively outgunned and outnumbered by regime forces 

The attack appeared to be the beginning of a crucial battle for the city of 2.5 million people, the biggest in Syria and the commercial capital. Rebels have seized parts of Aleppo and President Bashar al-Assad must force them out or suffer a crushing blow to his prestige.

Rebels have vowed to fight to the death for the city, but they are massively outgunned and outnumbered by regime forces. Families have been fleeing in recent days afraid that the regime will use its massive firepower against residential areas, as it has in other Syrian cities, and unleash thugs who have massacred people in rebel-supporting areas.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, warned on Friday that there are growing fears that the Assad government was about to carry out "some truly appalling acts around and in the city of Aleppo".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group, reported helicopter attacks on the central Salaheddine district of Aleppo and violent clashes elsewhere in the city.

"Helicopters are participating in clashes at the entrance of Salaheddine district and bombarding it," the group said in an emailed statement. "There are also violent clashes at the entrances to Sakhour district."

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.
In the past week huge columns of Syrian army units have been moved into the north of the country, cutting off approaches to Aleppo and preparing for what looks like a massive assault.
Both sides are desperate to show that they momentum is with them. After the regime put down a major uprising in Damascus it must show that it is still capable of asserting its control, while the rebels believe that if they can hold Aleppo the rate of defections to their side will increase.
Syrian official media has been saying that rebels failed in Damascus and are now trying to turn Aleppo into a den of terrorism.
Activists said 160 people were killed on Friday across the country, many of them in and around Aleppo. The city is Syria's main commercial centre and had been quiet for much of the 16-month uprising against President Assad's rule.
Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, appeared with David Cameron at a press conference on Friday and warned of Turkish concern at the crisis just a few miles from his southern border. "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.
Earlier, speaking to Turkish television, Mr 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."
Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, also condemned the Syrian regime. "The kinds of weaponry that they're using against unarmed civilians I think demonstrates the depths of depravity to which Assad has sunk," he told reporters.