Later on, Timur's forces advanced towards Aleppo with caution, where they tended to construct a fortified camp each night as they approach the city.
According to 15th century Sufi historian Abd al-Rahman al-Bistami, Timur "gathered armies, bringing together every scoundrel and trickster, unleashing heresies and horrors, shedding blood and pillaging properties.
[3] After two days of skirmishing, Timur's cavalry moved swiftly in arc shapes to attack the flanks of their enemy lines, while his center including elephants from India held firm.
[5] Fierce cavalry attacks forced the Mamluks led by Tamardash, governor of Aleppo, to break and flee towards the city gates.
[6] During Timur's invasion of Syria in the Siege of Aleppo, Ibn Taghribirdi wrote that Timur's Mongol soldiers committed mass rape on the native women of Aleppo, massacring their children and forcing the brothers and fathers of the women to watch the gang rapes which took place in the mosques.