Clashes continue in the Syrian city of Aleppo in a fierce battle between government forces and rebel fighters. The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says it has completed a deployment of 20,000 soldiers ahead of what many expect to be pivotal battle for control of Syria’s largest city. Syrian activist groups say at least 40 people were killed in Aleppo on Monday, most of them civilians. Rebel groups say they have captured more than 40 Iranian nationals inside Syria fighting for the Assad regime. Iran says the captives are Shia pilgrims who are visiting Syria to see religious sites. The Syrian government, meanwhile, continues to reel from the defection of Prime Minister Riyad Farid Hijab, who has accused Assad of committing “genocide.” In Washington, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Hijab’s defection shows Assad’s regime is imploding.

Jay Carney: “We have no reason to doubt the reports about the defection of the prime minister or other members of the government. That the titular head of the Syrian government has rejected the ongoing slaughter being carried out at Assad’s direction only reinforces that the Assad regime is crumbling from within and that the Syrian people believe that Assad’s days are numbered.”