Rebels have stormed Syria’s second city Aleppo after launching a lightning offensive that poses the biggest threat in years to Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Images circulating on social networks linked to the opposition show rebel forces posing in front of Aleppo citadel, located in the city center.
The rebels, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, said on Saturday that their fighters had advanced in several directions from their stronghold in Idlib province in northwestern Syria and had taken control of dozens of town and a regime airbase.
The militants, who launched the offensive this week, said late on Friday that they were “extending control inside the city of Aleppo”.
The attack comes as Assad faces growing pressure at home and abroad in a country ravaged by a civil war that erupted after a popular uprising in 2011. He was able to quell initial uprising with military support from Russia, Iran and Iran-backed groups, including Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant movement.
Fighting in Syria’s civil war has largely subsided in recent years, as remnants of the armed opposition have been pushed into northern and northwestern regions of the country near the Turkish border.
But over the past year, Israel has stepped up airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria as it launched an offensive against Hizbollah in Lebanon, weakening groups that play a key role in supporting Assad regime. The Israeli military said it attacked “military infrastructure” linked to Hizbollah in Syria near the Lebanese border on Saturday.
of HTS The possibility of fighting inside Aleppo is a blow to Assad and underscores the regime’s weakness.
“This is very serious for Assad,” said Malik al-Abdeh, a Syrian analyst. “Israel’s attacks against Iran and Hizbollah created the opportunity for this to happen. The prolonged war of attrition between Israel and Iran has clearly damaged Iran’s ability to deploy and fight in Syria.”
He added that HTS had been planning the attack for months and was coordinating with Turkish-backed factions, known as the Syrian National Army, although the latter had not yet deployed their full force. .
“The people in the regime’s areas have become demoralized, they have no hope and will welcome any challenge to the Syrian regime,” Abdeh said. “And the Syrian army is no longer willing to die for the regime.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said HTS had taken control of more than half of Aleppo city in just a few hours “without any resistance from regime forces”. “.
Syrian state news said the army detained “a number of terrorists who took photos in some neighborhoods in Aleppo to show that terrorist groups have occupied and controlled these areas”.
They added that their troops were continuing to “repel attacks by terrorist organizations in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib.”
State media reported that Russian forces killed more than 200 “terrorists” as part of a joint operation with the Syrian army on Friday.
The United Nations said Aleppo international airport was closed and all flights suspended. The United Nations and Syria’s Human Rights Watch said the fighting had displaced large numbers of civilians in Aleppo and surrounding rural areas.
Aleppo was the site of some of the fiercest fighting of the civil war. After besieging the city with relentless Russian bombing support, it routed rebels stationed in the eastern areas of Aleppo. That turned the war in Assad’s favor.
Emile Hokayem, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the Assad regime “still has manpower, air power and external support.”
“But the loss of Aleppo is a huge loss that will shake the confidence of those loyal to the regime,” Hokayem said.
“Assad thinks he is back in the geopolitical game because of the desire of other countries to normalize relations with him. The Syrians have tried to remind everyone how shaky his position is and erode his legitimacy.”
HTS, led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, is an offshoot of Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate that emerged during the Syrian civil war, but has sought to rebrand itself as a moderate Sunni Muslim force than.
The group is listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department and controls one of the last strongholds of the armed opposition in the Idlib region of northwestern Syria. HTS is the most powerful fighting force among the remaining rebel factions.
Neighboring Turkey, which has supported Syrian rebels since the start of the Arab country’s civil war, also has troops in northern Syria, where it controls large swathes of territory. and support other rebel forces.
Ankara has a relationship with HTS and although it has less control over the rebels and Idlib, it still ultimately serves as the region’s protector.
Dareen Khalifa, an adviser to Crisis Group, said Ankara did not encourage the initial HTS attack.
But she added that the group’s battlefield gains have created an opportunity for Türkiye to move its affiliated forces into areas of Aleppo province where the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a separatist group, is located. The Kurds have been fighting the Turkish state for decades and Iran. have presence.
“It completely serves Türkiye’s interests. This area is a security headache for them,” she said.
“That is where the PKK has a safe haven under the protection of Iran and Russia. It is very close to areas controlled by Türkiye, so it is completely within their reach.”
