Rebels call for reinforcements as government forces encircle the town in preparation for a siege which could strike a fatal blow to the mainstream opposition.
Syria's opposition has warned that regime forces are about to complete the encirclement of Aleppo and enforce a siege, striking a possibly fatal blow to the rebel forces recognised by the West as the best hope for the future of the country.
The inroads made into rebel control of northern Syria by the Islamic State, the new extremist grouping that has also seized much of Iraq, has weakened it and damaged morale, allowing the regime to advance on Aleppo, Syria's biggest city.
It has been divided between regime and rebel control for two years, but government forces and their Hizbollah allies have pushed round the eastern and northern flanks which connect rebel parts to the rest of the country.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10954499/Assad-forces-surrounding-Aleppo-Syrian-opposition-warns.html