ALEPPO - The young rebel fighters' mission was clear: to rid an Aleppo neighbourhood of Syrian army snipers who had infiltrated rebel lines on Saturday. But before they had reached their target, a skirmish with government troops forced them to make a diversion, throwing the group into confusion. All 40 were from rural areas outside Aleppo, and none could find their way through the city streets. "Wait, are we in the right place?" one rebel asked. "Weren't we supposed to turn at a mosque? Where's that mosque? Have we passed it?" A few minutes passed as the men circled around, peeking behind buildings into alleyways to see if they recognised them, unsure where to go next. "I guess we're coming back as martyrs today," one fighter joked darkly to his friend, who chuckled nervously in front of a Reuters reporter and photographer accompanying the fighters. Outgunned in Aleppo by President Bashar al-Assad's forces - who have stepped up their counter-offensive to retake Syria's biggest city - the mainly rural fighters are also out of their element in a city of 2.5 million where relatively few local men have joined the armed revolt. Saleheddine, the focus of fighting in Aleppo, used to be one of its busiest and mostly heavily-populated shopping and residential districts. Restaurants, pet shops, clothes and electronics stores - all shuttered - stand in tightly packed rows, creating a maze that only long-term residents can easily negotiate. "This is a street war in the full meaning of the term," said a rebel who identified himself as Abu Zayd, as an explosion went off behind a building where he was taking cover. "We don't know who is hiding in which building, who will pop up". Dodging sniper bullets, the fighters made their way to asmall street where bullets whizzed overhead, bringing down pieces of concrete. Artillery, mortar rounds and tank shells pounded the district, filling the street with dust which caught in the eyes and throats of the rebels, caking their clothes and uniforms.
