Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo has fallen from government control for the first time since the country’s conflict began more than a decade ago, a war monitor said Sunday, following a surprise rebel advance.
An Islamist-backed rebel alliance has been waging a lightning offensive against Iranian and Russian-backed Syrian government forces since Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah came into effect in neighboring Lebanon after two months. the whole war
The Syrian army — backed by Russian air power — retook rebel-held areas of Aleppo in 2016, the city dominated by its prominent citadel.
Damascus also relied on Hezbollah fighters to retake parts of Syria lost to the rebels at the start of the war that began in 2011 when the government cracked down on protests. But Hezbollah has suffered heavy losses in its struggle with Israel.
Jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions “control the city of Aleppo, except for the neighborhoods controlled by Kurdish forces,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
For the first time since the conflict began, “the city of Aleppo is beyond the control of Syrian regime forces,” Abdel Rahman said.
Several northern districts inside Aleppo are predominantly inhabited by Syrian Kurds under the authority of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF are the de facto army in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northeastern Syria. It is a US-backed force that led the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group before IS’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.
Separately, the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions seized Aleppo’s airport and dozens of nearby towns after seizing most of Aleppo on Saturday, the Observatory said.
Tanks hijacked
Damascus’ ally Moscow responded with its first air strikes on Aleppo since 2016.
Before this attack, HTS, led by al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch, already controlled parts of the Idlib region, the last area outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, in northwest Syria.
HTS also held parts of the neighboring provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia. Rebel factions backed by Turkey’s allies have also taken part in the offensive.
The fighting has killed more than 370 people, most of them fighters but also at least 48 civilians, according to the Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria.
The Observatory said rebel advances met little resistance.
AFP footage showed fighters posing with captured tanks.
The Observatory said on Sunday that the army had strengthened its positions around Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) south of Aleppo, and had sent reinforcements to the north of the nearby province.
Syria’s Defense Ministry said army units in Hama province had “reinforced their defense lines with a lot of fire, equipment and personnel” as they battled to prevent the rebels’ advance.
Rebels seized dozens of towns in the north, including Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numan, roughly between Aleppo and Hama, the Observatory said.
Some welcomed the arrival of the rebels.
“Yesterday was my wedding, but I didn’t hand out sweets,” said Khaled al-Yusef, holding cakes next to a car. “I will distribute them today in celebration of the liberation of Maaret al-Numan.”
‘weak’ government
But in Idlib on Sunday, bodies lay in a hospital and vehicles burned in the street, AFP footage showed, after what the Observatory called Russian airstrikes.
Airstrikes also took place in Aleppo on Saturday, where an AFP photographer saw coal trucks, including a minibus. Inside a car, a woman’s body was slumped in the back seat with a bag next to her.
Russian airstrikes in parts of Syria’s second city are the first since 2016.
Aaron Stein, president of the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said, “Russia’s presence has been significantly reduced and rapid-reaction airstrikes have limited utility.”
He said the rebel advance was a “reminder of how weak the regime is”.
Another analyst, Dareen Khalifa of the International Crisis Group, said the rebel alliance sees their action as part of a “broader regional and geostrategic shift,” including when “the Iranians are weakened.”
Syria’s “dependence on Russia and Iran,” along with its refusal to move forward in a 2015 peace process outlined by the UN Security Council, “created the conditions that are now unfolding,” said Sean Savett, a spokesman for the US National Security Council.
The US maintains hundreds of troops in northeastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting jihadists.
diplomacy
Iran’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left Tehran for Damascus to deliver what state media said would be a message of support for the Syrian government and armed forces.
Araghchi once again called the surprise rebel attack a plot by the US and Israel and vowed that “the Syrian army will win again”.
Assad vowed to defeat the “terrorists”, no matter how large their attacks.
“Terrorism only understands the language of force, and we will break and destroy that language, regardless of its supporters and sponsors,” he said.
Russia, whose air support has been crucial in helping the Syrian government regain lost territory, joined Iran in expressing “its concern” over the losses of its allies.
“Strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic was confirmed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a summary of the call between top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and Araghchi.
Since 2020, the rebel enclave of Idlib has been largely under the tutelage of Turkey and Russia, despite repeated violations.
Lavrov also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Saturday, and Moscow agreed on the need to “coordinate joint actions to stabilize the situation”.
