A Syrian war monitor said on Saturday that rebels had captured much of Aleppo, the first time since 2016 that Russian airstrikes were reported on parts of Syria’s second city.
The fighters have called for a lightning strike against Iranian- and Russian-backed Syrian government forces since Wednesday, as Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group retaliated after two months of all-out war in neighboring Lebanon. A fragile ceasefire has been implemented.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allied factions … took control of most of the city and government centers and prisons,” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, “without encountering any resistance.” done”.
Overnight, Russian “warplanes raided areas of Aleppo city for the first time since 2016,” added the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.
HTS, a jihadist coalition led by al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch, controls the Idlib region in northwest Syria, as well as parts of neighboring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said later on Saturday that “at least 16 civilians were killed and 20 others wounded” when “warplanes, possibly Russian, targeted civilian vehicles” in a part of the city held by fighters. is occupied by
The Syrian army admitted on Saturday that rebels had entered “large parts” of Aleppo and said “dozens of our armed forces were killed and others wounded”.
AFP TV footage showed part of the city burning after the airstrikes, while AFP photos showed rebels outside the city’s historic fortress.
“At the moment it seems that the Syrian government has been abandoned by its main allies, Iran and Russia, and Moscow has so far been carrying out symbolic attacks,” the head of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
‘Waiting 10 years’
Other fighters were seen posing with a rebel flag outside a police building with a large poster of Assad, and standing under a partially burnt billboard of the president.
The Syrian army said that “armed terrorist organizations” – a term it uses for all its opponents – had “launched a wide-ranging attack from multiple axes on the Aleppo and Idlib fronts” and “a strip of more than 100 km. On” reported fierce fighting.
The Observatory said the overnight airstrikes coincided with the “arrival of large (rebel) military reinforcements” in the area. Rebels have captured more than 80 towns and villages in the north, the war monitor said.
This raised the death toll in the days of clashes to 327 – 183 from HTS and allied factions, 100 from the military and pro-government forces, as well as 44 civilians.
“We’ve been waiting for this for years,” said Mohammed Hammadi, a 29-year-old rebel fighter from a square in Aleppo, a city of about 2 million people that was Syria’s manufacturing hub before the war.
He said that the attack was to liberate Aleppo and end the oppression of his brothers in the city.
“God willing, we will clear the whole of Syria,” he added.
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The pro-government radio station Syria FM reported on Saturday that “armed groups were present in several streets and neighborhoods of Aleppo city amid airstrikes targeting militant positions in the west of Aleppo city”.
“Most citizens are avoiding leaving their homes and public and private institutions in the city are almost completely closed,” it added.
“The governor of Aleppo and the commander of the police and security branch withdrew from the city center,” the Observatory said.
Some rebels prayed in the city center and opened fire in celebration, later patrolling on foot in central Aleppo, photos showed. An opposition flag was hanging from the traffic light.
The Observatory said the rebels and their allies had made other advances in the north, including capturing the strategic town of Saraqeb, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the road to Aleppo.
The Russian military said on Friday it was bombing “extremist” forces, as Turkey demanded a halt to bombing the neighboring Idlib region where HTS – which Ankara has some influence over – is based.
Since 2020, the Idlib region has been subject to a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia that has largely held despite repeated violations.
Syria’s conflict began in 2011 after Assad cracked down on anti-government protests, spiraling into a complex conflict that has drawn in foreign troops and jihadists and killed more than five million people.