The UN reported a significant escalation in Syria’s civil war on Wednesday, with the military using warplanes to fire on opposition fighters in the 12-day battle for Aleppo. It also said that opposition forces in Aleppo have “tanks” and “heavy weapons.” At the UN, Arab countries pushed ahead with a symbolic General Assembly resolution that tells Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign and turn over power to a transitional government. The resolution, to be put to vote on Thursday morning, also demands that the Syrian army stop its shelling and helicopter attacks and withdraw to its barracks. Assad, in a statement in the military’s magazine to mark armed forces day, told his troops that their battle against rebels would determine Syria’s fate. In Aleppo, rebel fighters claimed seizing three police stations while fighting the army for control of a strategically important district. From: The Gulf today