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Aleppo braces for major regime offensive

The Syrian regime's successful takeover of the strategic town of Sfireh, south of Aleppo, has rebels worried that their gains in Aleppo will soon be reversed.
A boy collects his belongings amidst the rubble of collapsed buildings after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo November 24, 2013.  Air strikes around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo killed at least 40 people on Saturday, most of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX15R6Q

ALEPPO, Syria — After almost a yearlong stalemate in Aleppo that hasn’t seen much in the way of significant gains for either side, the table is now being set for a major showdown. Although a serious regime offensive to retake Aleppo has been rumored on many previous occasions, this time it seems like it may be the real deal. Aside from small pieces of territory exchanging hands and intermittent clashes and skirmishes of varying ferocity, there has been nothing like the large-scale offensive recently launched by the regime in the southeast of Aleppo.

The regime’s rapid and successful takeover of the strategic town of Sfireh and nearby villages just to the south of Aleppo city has rebels visibly shaken. For too long they’ve been complacent and overconfident that their control over much of Aleppo province was unchallengeable. But a number of significant factors have changed this calculus and proved to be a rude awakening.

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