Syrian rebels liberate several Aleppo districts

Syrian rebels "liberated" several districts of the northern city of Aleppo on Monday, a Free Syrian Army spokesman in the country's commercial hub said. "This is the first step towards the liberation of the city," Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi told Agence France Presse via Skype, adding that fierce clashes continued on the edges of the Salah el-Din, Shaar, Hanano City, Tareq al-Bab and Sheikh Najjar neighborhoods. "Regime forces continue to pound these (captured) districts from the outskirts with tanks and helicopters," said Oqaidi. The same spokesman had announced earlier "the start of an operation aimed at liberating Aleppo from the blood-stained hands of Assad's gangs," referring to loyalists of President Bashar Assad.