BEIRUT — A tense Aleppo braced for the gathering storm Wednesday as both the Syria government and the insurgents sped reinforcements to the city, Syria’s commercial capital, to battle over half a dozen neighborhoods where the rebel fighters attempted to assert control.
Sporadic skirmishes erupted throughout the day, with the rebels claiming to have attacked and burned down several police stations in those quarters. Government helicopters circled, residents said, peppering the embattled neighborhoods with machine-gun fire and an occasional rocket while ground troops lobbed an occasional mortar.
There were no serious engagements reported. But all signs indicated one was looming. After withdrawing all visible security forces, even traffic police, for a day, Syrian army troops brought in on trucks or buses suddenly deployed around the historic 13th century citadel.
Thousands more were en route, according to rebel fighters and activists. “People know there is going to be chaos, fighting, shelling, so people are frightened,” said one activist reached via Skype. “They have stocked up on canned goods and are not venturing out.”
People streamed out of the neighborhoods where the rebel soldiers claimed control, figuring they would be pounded by government forces, following the same pattern in one Syrian city after another during the course of the 17-month uprising.
Tanks and troops normally deployed in nearby Idlib province began to lumber east toward Aleppo after suhur, the morning meal that comes before sunrise during the monthlong Ramadan holiday, fighters and activists said.
Some rebels reached via Skype said they too were headed toward Aleppo, anticipating a major showdown.
The new fighting in Syria came as Turkey sealed its border to trade with Syria, a further sign of enmity between the neighbors whose leaders were once close friends. Turkey’s decision did not affect its policy on accepting Syrian refugees, thousands of whom have fled the mayhem for sanctuary across the border since the conflict started in March 2011.
