On 23 January, Salih besieged the citadel, where Mawsuf and his troops were ensconced, while Thu'ban and his garrison barricaded themselves in the governor's palace at the foot of the citadel. By 13 March, Salih entered the palace and allowed the townspeople to loot it. As his Bedouin troops were not accustomed to siege warfare, he requested skilled forces from the Byzantine governor of Antioch, Constantine Dalassenos, who dispatched three hundred bowmen to Aleppo; the troops were soon after recalled on the orders of Basil II, who did not support Salih's rebellion. On 5 May, Salih appointed Ibn Mustafad "muqaddam al-aḥdāth" (commander of the urban militia) and governor of Aleppo, entrusting him and Ibn Tawq with continuing the siege, while Salih left for Palestine to help the Tayy combat a renewed expedition by Anushtakin. The Fatimid garrison's appeal for a truce on 6 June was ignored, prompting their desperate calls for Byzantine assistance; the troops went so far as to hang Christian crosses on the citadel walls and loudly praise Basil II while cursing Caliph az-Zahir. Muslim townsmen reacted to the pro-Byzantine pleas by joining the siege. By 30 June, the citadel was breached and Mawsuf and Thu'ban were arrested.