Nevertheless, Sayf al-Dawla's 960 raid was the last of this scale and ambition, and the Byzantines did not allow him to recover his strength: as soon as Nikephoros Phokas returned victorious from Crete in mid-961, he resumed the offensive in the east. The Byzantines captured Anazarbus in Cilicia, and followed a deliberate policy of devastation and massacre to drive the Muslim population away. Sayf al-Dawla's attempts to halt the Byzantine advance in Cilicia failed, and Nikephoros Phokas, with an army reportedly 70,000 strong, took Marash, Sisium, Duluk and Manbij, securing the western passes over the Anti-Taurus Mountains. Sayf al-Dawla sent his army north under Nadja to meet the Byzantines, but Nikephoros ignored them. Instead, the Byzantine general led his troops south and in mid-December they suddenly appeared before Aleppo. There they defeated an improvised army before the city walls. The Byzantines stormed the city and plundered it, except for the citadel, which continued to hold out. The Byzantines departed in early 963, taking much of the populace with them as captives. In 963, following the death of Emperor Romanos II, Nikephoros turned his attention to the power struggle that saw him ascend the imperial throne.