(Newser)
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Fighting continues for the second straight day in the strategically important Syrian city of Aleppo, reports AP and al-Jazeera. Syria's "second city," which is heavily populated by elites who have benefited from the regime of Bashar al-Assad, has largely avoided violence until now. Anti-government troops are apparently trying to press their advantage after the killing of high-ranking regime officials in Damascus.
"This night was very bad, there were huge explosions and the gunfire didn't stop for several hours," says one activist. "The uprising has finally reached Aleppo." The Syrian Observatory for Human Reports says 550 people have been killed in the last 48 hours across the country, which would make it the deadliest two-day stretch since the uprising began 16 months ago, according to Reuters.
