Syria’s second-largest city left reeling after anti-government fighters seized control in surprise offensive
It was two in the morning on Saturday when Nasma’s husband told her there were uniformed fighters in their neighbourhood of western Aleppo – but they were not from the Syrian army. He stood on their balcony to get a better view, before the men told him to go back indoors.
News of the militias’ advance in the countryside around Aleppo had spread fast, although Nasma, who requested a pseudonym for her safety, didn’t believe that change was coming until she saw displaced people arriving in the city from surrounding villages.
