Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo has fallen under government control for the first time since the country’s conflict began more than a decade ago, a war monitor said Sunday, following a sudden rebel advance.
The Islamist-dominated rebel alliance has launched a lightning offensive against Iranian- and Russian-backed Syrian government forces since Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire came into effect in neighboring Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after two months of all-out war.
In 2016, the Syrian army — backed by the Russian air force — recaptured rebel-held areas of Aleppo, a city dominated by its famous citadel.
Damascus has also relied on Hezbollah fighters to retake parts of Syria lost to rebels early in the war that began in 2011 when the government crushed protests. But Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in the battle with Israel.
The jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions “control the city of Aleppo, except for 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 beginning of the conflict, “the city of Aleppo is beyond the control of Syrian regime forces,” Abdel Rahman said.
Several northern districts inside Aleppo are predominantly populated by Syrian Kurds under the authority of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF is the de facto army in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northeastern Syria. They are a US-backed force that led the fight against Islamic State jihadists 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 on Saturday after seizing much of Aleppo, the Observatory said.
Tanks seized
Damascus’ ally Moscow responded with its first airstrikes on Aleppo since 2016.
Before this offensive, HTS, led by the former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, already controlled parts of the Idlib region, the last area outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, in northwestern Syria.
HTS also held parts of the neighboring provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia. Allied rebel factions backed by Turkey also took part in the offensive.
The fighting 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 the rebel advance met little resistance.
AFP pictures show fighters posing with seized tanks.
The Observatory said on Sunday that the army had strengthened its positions around Syria’s fourth-largest city of Hama, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) south of Aleppo, and sent reinforcements to the north of the surrounding province.
Syria’s defense ministry said military units in Hama province had “reinforced their defense lines with various firepower, equipment and manpower” as they battled to halt the rebel advance.
Rebels have captured dozens of towns across the north, including Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numan, about halfway 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-Yussef, holding cakes next to his car. “I’m handing them out today to celebrate the liberation of Maaret al-Numan.”
‘Weak’ government
But in Idlib on Sunday, bodies lay in hospital and vehicles were set on fire in the streets, AFP images show, after what the Observatory called Russian airstrikes.
Airstrikes also took place in Aleppo on Saturday, where an AFP photographer saw charred cars, including a minibus. Inside one car, a woman’s body lay slumped in the back seat with a bag next to her.
Russian airstrikes on parts of another city in Syria are the first since 2016.
Aaron Stein, president of the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said that “Russia’s presence has thinned out significantly and rapid-reaction airstrikes have been limited.”
He said the rebel advance was “a reminder of how weak the regime is”.
Another analyst, Dareen Khalifa of the International Crisis Group think tank, said the rebel alliance sees its action in “broader regional and geostrategic change,” including when “the Iranians are weakened.”
“Syria’s reliance on Russia and Iran,” along with its refusal to move forward with a 2015 peace process outlined by the UN Security Council, “created the conditions that are now unfolding,” said US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett. .
The United States maintains hundreds of 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 what state media said was a message of support for the Syrian government and armed forces.
Araghchi again called the surprise rebel offensive a conspiracy by the United States and Israel and vowed that “the Syrian army will win once again.”
Assad vowed to defeat “terrorists”, no matter how big their attacks.
“Terrorism only understands the language of force, and that is the language with which we will crush and eliminate it, whoever its supporters and patrons are,” he said.
Russia, whose air support has previously been instrumental in helping the Syrian government recapture lost territory, joined Iran in expressing “extreme concern” over their ally’s losses.
“Strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic was reaffirmed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a summary of talks between its top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, and Araghchi.
As of 2020, the rebel enclave of Idlib is subject to a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia that has largely held despite repeated violations.
Lavrov also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Saturday and agreed that it is necessary to “coordinate joint actions to stabilize the situation,” Moscow said.
