Syrian forces battle rebel push on central Aleppo, put down prison mutiny with machine guns, killing 15

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops fought rebels trying to seize central Aleppo on Tuesday and quelled a jail mutiny on the outskirts of the northern city, killing 15 prisoners, opposition activists said.

After a week of bloody battles between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and his opponents in Damascus, fighting intensified in Aleppo, a commercial city that long seemed immune to the 16-month-old upheaval convulsing Syria.

Rebels seeking to capture downtown Aleppo were combating Syrian troops and intelligence men at the gates of the Old City, a U.N. World Heritage site, residents and activists said.

The deaths in the prison mutiny were caused when Assad's forces used machineguns and teargas on inmates overnight, activists in contact with surviving prisoners said.

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