ALEPPO, Syria, Ramadan 12, 1433, Jul 31, 2012, SPA - Syrian helicopter gunships and artillery pounded two key areas of Aleppo on Tuesday. Heavy gunfire sounded from the Salaheddine district in the southwest of the city, where Syrian Free Army denied they had been driven out by the regime's army. Attack helicopters turned their machineguns on eastern districts for the first time in the latest fighting, according to a report of Reuters. A commander of the Syrian Free Army in Aleppo said his fighters' aim was to push towards the city centre, district by district, a goal he believed they could achieve "within days, not weeks". The rebels now control an arc that covers eastern and southwestern districts. "The regime has tried for three days to regain Saleheddine, but its attempts have failed and it has suffered heavy losses in human life, weapons and tanks, and it has been forced to withdraw," said Colonel Abdel-Jabbar al-Oqaidi, head of the Joint Military Council, one of several rebel groups in Aleppo. Oqaidi told Reuters late on Monday more than 3,000 fighters were in Aleppo, but would not give a precise number. --SPA 14:27 LOCAL TIME 11:27 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1019357