Fighting continued in Aleppo on July 30, two days after the Syrian military began an offensive to take control of the city from rebel forces. Since the regime launched the campaign in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, the bulk of the fighting has been concentrated in Salaheddine. The Syrian army claimed to retake control of the southwestern district July 29, though rebels have denied the claim and fighting in the area continues. In addition to this battle, the rebels were engaged in heavy fighting over July 28-29 in Sakhour district in the northeast and Hamdaniya district in the southwest. On July 30, fighting was also reported in the district of Sukari and the area of Bab al-Hadeed. Despite the constant shelling of rebel-held areas, the rebels claimed to have obtained control of the Andan checkpoint in northwest Aleppo after 10 hours of fighting. This seizure could allow the rebels to use the checkpoint for another transit route between the Turkish border and Aleppo, which would help them acquire supplies, weapons and reinforcements from rebels based in southern Turkey. The outcome of the battle for Aleppo will serve as a test for the capabilities of both the regime's forces and the rebels. But even if the Syrian military is able to reassert control over Aleppo, as it did in Damascus, the rebel insurgency will still continue to chip away at the regime's forces and overall control of Syria.
