This Saturday (30) afternoon, ‘at least 16 civilians died and another 20 were injured’ when ‘war planes, probably Russian, attacked civilian vehicles’ at a roundabout in Aleppo, according to the OSDH
Jihadist forces and other rebel formations took over much of , the second largest city in Syria, in a devastating offensive against the regime of Bashar al Assad, in which more than 320 people have died so far, the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported this Saturday (30). Based in the United Kingdom, the NGO has a wide network of informants on the ground, and also reported that, during the early hours of the morning, Russian warplanes bombed Aleppo for the first time since 2016, when the regime reconquered the city with military aid from Moscow.
This Saturday (30) afternoon, “at least 16 civilians died and another 20 were injured” when “war planes, probably Russian, attacked civilian vehicles” at a roundabout in Aleppo, according to the OSDH. The Syrian Army indicated that “terrorist organizations managed to penetrate large parts of neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo”.
These are the biggest clashes in several years in where the civil war that began in 2011 between forces that found external support left half a million dead and millions displaced. The jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the former Syrian branch of the Al Qaeda network, and allied factions, some supported by Turkey, launched an offensive on Wednesday in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, taking dozens of locations before entering, on Friday in the big northern city.
“Without any resistance”
The OSDH reported this Saturday that HTS militants and allied factions took over “most of the city, government buildings and prisons” of Aleppo. The jihadists and rebels paraded through the city, installed their flag in front of a police station and tore down a portrait of Assad, according to AFP images. They also seized Aleppo’s international airport, southeast of the city, after the withdrawal of government forces, the OSDH said.
The report adds that the rebels advanced into Hama and Idlib provinces, capturing “dozens of strategic villages without encountering resistance.” According to the NGO’s latest report, 327 people have died since Wednesday: 183 HTS terrorists and their allies, 100 soldiers and members of pro-government forces and 44 civilians.
Iran indicated that “terrorist elements” attacked its consulate in Aleppo and defended the establishment of “coordination” between its country and Russia to help the Assad regime. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “will go to Damascus on Sunday to hold talks with Syrian authorities,” his ministry said.
Inhabitants “in their homes”
In Aleppo, a city with around two million inhabitants and the historic center of the country before the war, “the majority of civilians remain in their homes, and public and private institutions are almost all closed”, reported the official Sham FM radio. OSDH director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that rebel forces quickly seized large areas of Aleppo “without encountering any significant resistance.”
“There was no fighting, not a single shot was fired, as regime forces withdrew,” Rahman said. “The regime’s lines collapsed at incredible speed, surprising everyone,” said Dareen Khalifa, an expert at the International Crisis Group.
The head of the self-proclaimed “government” of Idlib, Mohamad al Bashir, justified the offensive on Thursday by stating that the regime had “started bombing civilian areas, causing the exodus of tens of thousands” of inhabitants. The Turkish Army, which controls several areas in northern Syria, called on Friday for “an end” to the “attacks” in Idlib following Russian and Syrian bombings.
Northern Syria has maintained a precarious calm in recent years, made possible by a ceasefire established after a regime offensive in March 2020. This truce was supported by Russia and Turkey, which supports some Syrian rebel groups on its border.
Rebels launched a lightning offensive against Assad regime forces on Wednesday, coinciding with the entry into force of a fragile ceasefire in neighboring Lebanon, between Israel and the Lebanese pro-Iranian movement Hezbollah, after two months of open war.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
