ALEPPO - Elite government forces backed by Hezbollah converged Tuesday on the north Syrian city of Aleppo as rebels bolstered their own fighters in readiness for a major showdown, a monitor said.
Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was likely that pro-regime forces were preparing to lay siege to rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the country's pre-war commercial capital.
The rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad have controlled parts of the northern city since they wrested them from the government's hands in July 2012.
"Commando troop reinforcements from the Republican Guard and from [Lebanon's] Hezbollah continued to be sent, in a bid to surround Aleppo city," the Observatory said.
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/554927-syria-troops-converge-as-rebels-ready-for-aleppo-showdown