For commanders assembled at the headquarters of Aleppo’s main rebel unit, the Liwa al-Tawhid Brigade, the current stalemate in Syria’s second city boils down to a lack of ammunition.
Their current depleted supply, used sparingly by snipers, is just enough to defend the positions they hold but not to advance, as regime forces and rebels remain holed up either side of the front line.
Rebel commanders arrive one after the other for an evening debriefing, gathering from bases in the districts of Saif al-Dawla, Izaa, Salaheddin and Amiriya in eastern Aleppo.
Some come in fatigues, some wear only semi-military outfit and others are in civilian clothes.
Among them are a mishmash of fighters, some wearing bandanas with the Islamic profession of faith scrawled on, others sporting tattoos of arrow-pierced hearts.
Everyone has more or less the same take on the current situation: nothing is moving in Aleppo, due to a lack of rebel ammunition.