Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, is out of government control for the first time since the civil war began more than a decade ago after a surprise rebel advance, war monitors said on Sunday.
The Islamist-majority rebel alliance has been carrying out blitzkrieg attacks against Iranian and Russian-backed Syrian government forces since Wednesday, the same day it launched an offensive with Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in neighboring Lebanon. It was the same day that a fragile ceasefire between the two countries came into effect after a two-month hiatus between the two countries. All-out war.
Syrian forces, supported by the Russian air force, retook rebel-held areas of Aleppo in 2016. Aleppo was a city dominated by its landmark, the citadel.
Damascus has also turned to Hezbollah fighters to retake large swathes of Syria lost to rebels in the early days of the war that began in 2011, when the government crushed protests. However, Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in the fight against Israel.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and rebel allies are “not in control of Aleppo, except in areas controlled by Kurdish forces.” They control the city,” he said.
For the first time since the conflict began, “Aleppo city has lost control of Syrian government forces,” Abdel Rahman said.
Several districts in the northern part of Aleppo city are mainly inhabited by Syrian Kurds, who are under the control of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main force of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF is the de facto military force in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northeastern Syria. They are a U.S.-backed force that spearheaded the fight against Islamic State jihadists before the group retook territory in Syria in 2019.
Separately, jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and rebel allies seized Aleppo’s airport and dozens of nearby towns after taking control of large parts of the city on Saturday, the Observatory said. Announced.
Seize the tank
Moscow, an ally of Damascus, retaliated with its first airstrike on Aleppo since 2016.
Prior to the attack, HTS, led by al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch, had already taken control of swathes of Idlib, the last area in northwestern Syria outside of President Bashar al-Assad’s government control.
HTS also captured parts of neighboring Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces. Allied rebel groups backed by Türkiye are also taking part in the attack.
More than 370 people have been killed in the fighting, mostly combatants but also at least 48 civilians, according to the Observatory, which has a network of sources in Syria.
The Observatory said the rebel advance was carried out with little resistance.
AFP images showed fighters posing with captured tanks.
The Observatory said on Sunday that the military had strengthened positions around Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) south of Aleppo, and sent reinforcements to the northern part of the surrounding province.
Syria’s Defense Ministry said army units in Hama province were “reinforcing the defense line with a variety of fire tools, equipment and personnel” and fighting to stop the rebel advance.
The Observatory said rebels had captured dozens of towns in the north, including Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numaan, about halfway between Aleppo and Hama.
Some welcomed the rebels’ arrival.
“Yesterday was my wedding, but we didn’t give out sweets,” said Khaled al-Yousef, holding up a pastry next to his car. “Today we are distributing it in celebration of the liberation of Maaret al-Numan.”
“Weak” government
But AFP footage showed bodies lying in hospitals and vehicles set on fire in the streets in Idlib on Sunday after what the Observatory called a Russian airstrike.
There were also airstrikes in Aleppo on Saturday, and an AFP photographer saw charred vehicles, including a minibus. Inside one of the cars, a woman’s body was found lying in the back seat, her handbag next to her.
This is Russia’s first airstrike on parts of Syria’s second-largest city since 2016.
“Russia’s presence has diminished considerably and the usefulness of quick-reaction airstrikes is limited,” said Aaron Stein, director of the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute.
He said the rebel advance was “a reminder of how weak the regime is.”
Dareen Khalifa, another analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, said the rebel alliance is facing “broader regional and geopolitical strategic changes,” including if “Iran becomes weakened.” He said he thought he would take action.
US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savet said Syria’s “dependence on Russia and Iran” and refusal to move forward with the 2015 peace process outlined by the UN Security Council “created the current situation. ” he said.
The United States maintains several hundred troops in northeastern Syria as part of an anti-jihadist coalition.
diplomacy
Iran’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left Tehran for Damascus to deliver a message of support to the Syrian government and military, state media said.
Araghchi once again called the rebel surprise attack a conspiracy by the United States and Israel and vowed that “the Syrian army will win again.”
President Assad has vowed to defeat the “terrorists” no matter how large their attacks are.
“Terrorism can only be understood in the word force, and we use the word to defeat and eliminate its supporters and sponsors, whoever they are,” he said.
Russia, which has so far provided crucial air support to the Syrian government in regaining lost territory, expressed “extreme concern” about the losses to the ally, along with Iran.
“Strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic was reaffirmed,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a summary of the telephone conversation between top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and Aragushi.
Since 2020, the Idlib rebel enclave has been subject to a Turkish-Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement that has largely remained in place despite repeated violations.
The Russian government said Lavrov also spoke with Turkish Prime Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday and agreed on the need to “coordinate joint actions to stabilize the situation.”
