Syrian Rebels seize control of large parts of Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities.
Syrian opposition fighters, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), are advancing into Aleppo and south towards Hama, just five days after launching a surprise offensive that may have sparked a new phase of the 13-year war in Syria.
Syria’s military announced a “temporary troop withdrawal” on Saturday from Aleppo, the country’s second largest city, saying it would regroup in preparation for the arrival of reinforcements for a counterattack.
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces had controlled Aleppo since 2016 with support from Iran, Russia and Hezbollah after a brutal air campaign by Russian warplanes helped al-Assad retake the city of about two million people.
Who controls what?
Four main groups are competing for control on the ground in Syria. They are:
- Syrian government forces: The army, the government’s main military force, fights alongside the National Defence Forces, a pro-government paramilitary group.
- Syrian Democratic Forces: This Kurdish-dominated, United States-backed group controls parts of eastern Syria.
- HTS and other allied rebel groups: The HTS is the latest iteration of the al-Nusra Front, which had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda until it severed those ties in 2016.
- Turkish and Turkish-aligned Syrian rebel forces: The Syrian National Army is a Turkish-backed rebel force in northern Syria.
How the offensive unfolded
On Wednesday, the day a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect, Syrian opposition forces, led by HTS, launched an offensive from their base in Idlib governorate in northwestern Syria.
The rebel group says the attacks are retaliation for recent Syrian government assaults on cities in Idlib, including Ariha and Sarmada, which resulted in civilian casualties, including the deaths of children, and aim to deter future attacks on the rebel stronghold.
The operation marked the first major attack against al-Assad’s forces in the region since the 2020 Idlib ceasefire, brokered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.