Rebels in Syria have taken control of most of the city of Aleppo after launching a surprise offensive against government forces, a war monitor said on Saturday, while Russia says it has deployed fighter jets against rebels in Syria.
An alliance of rebel factions led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has pushed deep into Aleppo and now controls most of the northern city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The uprising, which began on Wednesday, appears to have taken the regime of President Bashar al-Assad by surprise. Experts call it an important turning point.
Thousands of fighters from the rebel groups made major territorial gains within days in the area around Idlib and Aleppo, the second-largest city that had been under government control for years.
The alliance now appears determined to take control of the entire neighboring province of Idlib. On Friday, the rebels advanced to the western outskirts of Aleppo and continued to invade the city from there.
The future course of events will largely depend on the decisions made in Russia, one of al-Assad’s closest allies.
Russia says it has deployed warplanes in Syria
Russia announced on Saturday that its fighter jets had carried out multiple missions in Syria, targeting rebel command posts, artillery positions and camps, reportedly killing around 300 fighters.
Captain Oleg Ignasyuk, head of the Russian mission in Syria, said operations against “extremist aggression” would continue, state news agency TASS quoted him as saying.
The information could not be independently verified. Ignasyuk did not provide information about the locations of the fighter jets.
Russia, a key ally of the Syrian government, has backed President Bashar al-Assad since 2015 and has stationed troops at Khmeimim airport and the port city of Tartus.
The Syrian army said the large number of insurgents involved in the surprise offensive on multiple fronts prompted government forces to redeploy and prepare for a counterattack.
The rebels’ offensive marks a significant escalation of Syria’s civil war, which has been raging since 2011 and has recently seen relatively stagnant frontlines.
At least sixteen people have been killed in an airstrike in Aleppo
A few hours after the Syrian government confirmed it had lost large parts of Aleppo to the rebels, the center was hit by a heavy airstrike.
At least sixteen people were killed, according to the observatory. At least 16 people were killed and 20 others injured in the suspected attack by Russian fighter jets on Saturday afternoon, the Observatory said.
The current fighting has killed at least 327 people and displaced at least 50,000 others, the war monitor estimates.
Rebel advance is boosted by the withdrawal of Iranian-backed militias
Mustapha Bakour, spokesman for Jaish al-Izza, a faction taking part in the rebel attack on Aleppo, said opposition fighters were currently in the final stages of their sweep through the city.
He told dpa that the advance had been rapid because the rebels had prepared well for the attack and Iranian-backed militias loyal to the Syrian government had withdrawn.
HTS is considered one of the most powerful armed militias in northwest Syria.
The opposition attack is considered by the rebels to be the biggest since 2016, when they were driven from the eastern parts of the city.
Iran, Syria’s most important ally after Russia, has significantly expanded its military influence in recent years by establishing a land corridor through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.
Syria remains a crucial part of Iran’s Middle East strategy. Idlib, southwest of Aleppo, is the last rebel stronghold in war-torn Syria.
On Saturday, Syrian rebels reportedly captured at least 11 villages in the countryside around Hama where Syrian government forces were stationed, the war monitor said.
“What we are seeing now in Syria is a total collapse of government forces,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told dpa.
All eyes on Russia’s response
According to an expert, the success of the collective offensive of the Syrian rebel groups on Aleppo largely depends on Moscow’s response.
Without substantial Russian air support, Al-Assad’s government forces will likely not be able to retake Aleppo, Heiko Wimmen of the International Crisis Group think tank told dpa.
In this case, the rebels might even be able to make further territorial gains.
However, Wimmen does not believe that Russia will drop al-Assad. The Kremlin has invested too much in the Syrian president for that, he noted.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the escalating situation in Syria with his counterparts from Iran and Turkey on Saturday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
According to the statement, “the ministers agreed on the need to make more active joint efforts to stabilize the situation in Syria.”
Members of the Syrian armed opposition pose for a photo as they rest their feet on the bust of a statue of former Syrian President Hafez al-Asad in Abdullah al-Jabri Square after taking control of most parts of Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria. Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
A general view of the city of Aleppo after the armed opposition took control of the city. Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
