http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/09/world/middleeast/what-is-aleppo-syria.html 2016-09-08 20:05:53 ‘What Is Aleppo?’ Gary Johnson Asked. Let Us Explain. An American presidential candidate asked what Aleppo is on national television. Some of the basics about what’s going on there. === Aleppo was once Syria’s most populous city, famed for its citadel and old city. Now it’s a byword for destruction, recently labeled On Thursday, the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, Some of the basics about what’s going on there, with links to some of The Times’s best recent coverage. Aleppo was Syria’s largest city and commercial capital before the war. Since 2012, it has been divided between the government, which controls the western part of the city, and rebel forces who control the east. Fighting Control of supply routes in and out of the eastern part have been a focal point of the conflict, as the government sought to cut off the rebel-held parts of the city. In July, Our correspondent Aleppo is also the name of the larger province that includes territory controlled by the Syrian government, Kurdish forces, United States-backed rebels, Qaeda-affiliated ones and Islamic State. There has been intense and complicated fighting there as President Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia