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.

--Reported by Reuters

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