Syrian Activists: 5 Killed in Aleppo Syrian activists say fighting between rebels and government forces has killed five people in the country's embattled largest city of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the dead included a man who has been shot by a sniper near the city's medieval citadel on Sunday. Aleppo is home to 3 million people and was once a bastion of support for President Bashar Assad. Syria's state news agency says Assad's troops have carried out an operation in western Aleppo against "terrorist gatherings" - a reference to the rebel Free Syrian Army. It says several have been killed, but gave no numbers. On Saturday, a fire sparked by battles between Assad's troops and rebels tore through Aleppo's centuries-old covered market, the worst blow yet to the city's historic center.