Rebel forces launch a counteroffensive in Aleppo.<br /> <br />They are responding to escalated air assaults by government forces trying to recapture territory and drive residents out of opposition-held areas.<br /> <br />The video, which can not be independently verified by Reuters shows desolated streets with the sounds of sirens ringing in despair.<br /> <br />President Bashar al-Assad's forces recently mounted a series of attacks on Aleppo city, once Syria's business hub.<br /> <br />The government is suspected of using so-called barrel bombs - oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and metal fragments, dropped out of helicopters.<br /> <br />In the aftermath parts of Aleppo's are left broken and battered.<br /> <br />Buildings -- cracked open -- are a shell of what once was.<br /> <br />Activists say the government assault is aimed at pushing out civilians as the army tries to seize the initiative on the long-stalemated Aleppo battlefront.<br /> <br />It's a fight where anyone is a target.<br /> <br />The conflict in Syria has
