Amateur video posted to a social media website purports to show rebel fighters engaged in fierce gun battles with government forces in the town of Maarat al Numan, in northwestern Syria.<br/> <br />As battles rage on the streets, helicopters circle overhead -- some of them engaged by rebel guns.<br/> <br />The rebels claim to have liberated the strategic town.<br/> <br />Reuters can't independently verify the content of the video, allegedly filmed on Tuesday.<br/> <br />As the fighting dies down, the video shows a building, said to have been occupied by government forces.<br/> <br />Now under rebel control, the fighters allegedly captured a number of soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad - and freed prisoners.<br/> <br />The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 30,000 people have died in Syria since the uprising began last year.<br/> <br />The U.N. puts that number closer to 20,000.
