The Guardian: “The rebels have rapidly recaptured dozens of towns and villages in the Aleppo countryside, seizing a military base, weaponry and tanks from Syrian government forces.”
After years of relative calm, rebel Islamist forces have launched a major offensive against Bashar al-Assad’s Iran-backed regime in Syria.
Rebels, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), had entered Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, and were clashing with the forces loyal to the Assad regime. “The rebels have rapidly recaptured dozens of towns and villages in the Aleppo countryside, seizing a military base, weaponry and tanks from Syrian government forces, while some Turkish-backed Syrian rebel groups based elsewhere in north-west Syria joined the fighting,” the British newspaper Guardian reported Thursday.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), listed by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, has been backed by Turkey in the past. The HTS has been controlling parts of the nearby Idlib province under a Russia and Turkey-brokered truce in 2020. The HTS-led fighters broke the ceasefire on Wednesday and began making a rapid advance towards Aleppo, a city vital for the Assad regime’s control over Syria.
Absolutely historic footage from #Aleppo tonight.
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) November 29, 2024
The Associated Press reported the Rebel advance on Aleppo:
Insurgents breached Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo after blowing up two car bombs on Friday and were clashing with government forces on the city’s western edge, according to a Syria war monitor and fighters.
It was the first time the city has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.
Witnesses in Aleppo city said residents have been fleeing neighborhoods on the western edge of the city because of missiles and exchanges of fire. The government did not comment on insurgents breaching city limits.
Syria’s Armed Forces said in a statement Friday it has been clashing with insurgents in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib, destroying several of their drones and heavy weapons. It vowed to repel the attack and accused the insurgents of spreading false information about their advances.
Thousands of insurgents have been advancing toward Aleppo city since a shock offensive they launched on Wednesday, seizing several towns and villages along the way.
HTS is storming Aleppo right now. Several sources on the ground confirm they are now inside the main ring road and moving toward the city centre
— Broderick McDonald (@BroderickM_) November 29, 2024
There are conflicting reports about the ongoing clashes, with both sides making counterclaims. Embattled Assad-loyalist Syria Arab Army (SAA) in the city was receiving air and ground support from Russian — and perhaps Iranian — armed forces.
“Russian and Syrian warplanes bombed rebel-held northwest Syria near the border with Turkey on Thursday to push back an insurgent offensive that captured territory for the first time in years, Syrian army and rebel sources said,” Reuters reported. “The army said it was cooperating with Russia and unnamed “friendly forces” to regain ground and restore the situation.”
The Syrian civil war began in 2011, with various ethnic and religious armed factions fighting to oust the Assad regime. The Assad family, which ruled the country with an iron fist since the early 1970s, managed to retain control over a large part of the country after years of bloody fighting that led to the killing of over 500,000 people and displaced millions. Iran and Russia have backed the regime. Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group also increased its footprint in Syria during the civil war years.
DONATE🧵 1/ The situation in Syria is spiraling: In the most simple terms, we are seeing Erdogan-backed Sunni jihadists routing Khamenei and Putin-backed Assad loyalists. https://t.co/y9hxolRhXP
— Simone Ledeen (@SimoneLedeen) November 29, 2024
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