Syrian rebels sweep into Aleppo, nearby province in huge setback for Assad

FRANCE 24
·1-min read

Syrian insurgents led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham captured most of Aleppo on Saturday and expanded their offensive to a nearby province, in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's authority in years. Russia's air force carried out strikes in support of the Syrian army, which said it was preparing a counterattack.

The Syrian army said on Saturday dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack by rebels who swept into the city of Aleppo in the northwest, forcing the army to redeploy in a huge setback for Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The surprise attack led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has jolted the frontlines of the Syrian civil war that have largely been frozen since 2020, reviving fighting in a corner of the fractured country near the Turkish border. The army said it was preparing a counteroffensive to restore state authority.

Acknowledging the rebel advance, the Syrian army command said insurgents had entered large parts of Aleppo, which had been under full state control since government forces backed by Russia and Iran drove rebels out eight years ago.

Images from Aleppo showed a group of rebel fighters gathered in the city's Saadallah al-Jabiri Square after entering the city overnight, a billboard of Assad looming behind them.

“So those people fighting today are fighting to go back to those towns,” Nasr added.


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