The battle for Aleppo...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
has not yet begun, and shelling by troops is just the start of what is to come, a senior Syrian security official in the region said on Saturday.
"The battle for Aleppo has not yet begun, and what is happening now is just the appetizer," the official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity, adding: "The main course will come later."
The official said new military reinforcements had arrived, and that there were at least 20,000 troops on the ground.
"The other side is also sending reinforcements," he added, referring to the rebel forces.