The commander of Syrian rebels in the northern province of Aleppo today said his forces have launched an operation aimed at "liberating" the country's largest city from regime troops.

The statement by Col Abdul-Jabbar Mohammed Aqidi posted by activists on YouTube came as clashes in the country's commercial hub of Aleppo raged for a third day.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed said the fighting is concentrated in several neighbourhoods.

The Observatory also reported attacks by government forces in the capital Damascus in the neighbourhoods of Mazzeh and Barzeh.

Damascus and Aleppo are both home to elites who have benefited from close ties to president Bashar Assad's regime, as well as merchant classes and minority groups who worry their status will suffer if Assad falls.

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