Syrian government forces and Free Syrian Army are preparing for the battle in city Aleppo 2607121

Conflict in the World - Syria

Thursday, July 26, 2012, 08:29 AM

Syrian government forces and Free Syrian Army are preparing for the battle in the city of Aleppo.

Activists say thousands of troops have been sent to Syria's second city, Aleppo, as clashes were reported in the city for the sixth consecutive day. The Syrian army and rebels on July 25, sent reinforcements to Aleppo to join the intensifying battle for the country's second city.

Fighters from the Syrian opposition clash with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, in the center of Syria's restive northern city of Aleppo on July 25, 2012.

A spokesman for rebel Free Syrian Army said thousands of Syrian soldiers had been moved from the northwestern province of Idlib to fight in Aleppo.

"A large number of troops is being redeployed from Jabal al-Zawiyah to Aleppo, which is strategically more important for the regime than Idlib," Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi, the FSA's Military Council spokesman in the city told AFP.

One column of 23 armoured vehicles carrying soldiers and ammunition out of Jebel az-Zawiya, a rebel stronghold in southern Idlib, was attacked by local fighters, according to an activist in Turkey. He said seven vehicles were destroyed but the rest continued toward Aleppo.