ALEPPO (Syria), July 28: Syrian rebels staved off an attack by regime forces in Aleppo on Saturday amid growing concerns about the risk of reprisals against civilians in the country’s commercial capital.

After massing for two days, troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships moved in on southwestern Aleppo where rebels concentrated their forces when they seized much of the northern city on July 20.

At least 29 people were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, contributing to a figure of around 140 nationwide.

The watchdog said more than 20,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime erupted in March 2011.

“It started at 4am and eight hours later it’s still hell. This is madness,” a correspondent reported from the Aleppo district of Salaheddin.

Civilians crowded into basements seeking refuge from the bombing, with the Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman describing the clashes as the uprising’s “fiercest”.

“There are thousands of people in the streets fleeing the bombardment. They’re being terrorised by helicopter gunships flying at low altitude,” said an activist, adding many had taken refuge in public parks.

Official news agency SANA reported fighting in Furqan district where “a terrorist group was terrorising residents”. It said two ‘terrorists’ had been killed and three others captured, and their arms and vehicles seized.

Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi of the rebel Free Syrian Army said his forces had repulsed troops in Salaheddin and that the regime offensive had been stopped.

“We managed to force the army to the neighbourhood of Hamdaniyeh,” he said on the phone, adding that while the army had been halted on the ground, artillery and gunships continued to pound the city.

Abdel Rahman said the fact the soldiers had been stopped in Salaheddin “does not necessarily mean a withdrawal as their strategy is to bombard... to cause an exodus then launch an assault even more fierce”.

A correspondent said rebels were poised to launch a final raid on a strategic police post in the city centre.—AFP