In Aleppo, Syrian rebels aim to show they are an alternative to Assad

After fearing city's security would collapse, residents see life returning to normal

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ALEPPO - A week after Islamist rebels seized Syria's second-largest city, in a surprise advance deep into government-held territory, Aleppo is slowly coming back to life.

A night-time curfew has lifted. Bread has returned to bakery shelves. Traffic police wave cars through intersections, and internet coverage has improved as a rebel-linked telecoms network has expanded its reach, according to half a dozen residents and Reuters footage.

These measures are part of an effort by the rebel alliance spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as the Nusra Front, to show Syrians - and the West - that it is a viable alternative to President Bashar al-Assad, analysts say.

HTS, headed by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is still designated as a terrorist group by the US, Turkey and the UN. It has spent years trying to soften its image.

"We expected the situation to be very bad, but the young men dealt with the city very well," said Mr Mohammad Khalil, 52, a tourism company owner, referring to the rebel fighters.

He also noted that the water supply was patchy despite the return of some services.

The rebels have some experience of civilian affairs.

HTS, which broke from Al-Qaeda in 2016 and says it poses no threat to the West, already held swathes of the adjacent province of Idlib, where it established an affiliate civil administration called the Salvation Government that has governed close to three million people for much of the past five years.

There, it has elected a Cabinet of ministers, made the Turkish lira legal tender and even set up a mobile network called Syria Phone, now extended to Aleppo.

It has also avoided more extreme interpretations of syariah law, the International Crisis Group think-tank has said.