Rebels launch biggest attack in Syria’s civil war since 2016 and invade Aleppo

Syrian rebels invaded Aleppo, the second largest city in the country, this Friday, the 29th, and clashed with the country’s official forces for the first time since 2016, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The surprise attack caused residents to flee and fear in a region recovering from several wars.

The advance on Aleppo came after thousands of rebels entered villages and towns in northwestern Syria on Wednesday. According to witnesses, residents of regions furthest from the center left the city in fear of missiles and gunfire. Dozens of fighters on both sides were killed.

The attack causes a new wave of violence in the civil war in Syria, which began in 2011, and in the Middle East itself, which is experiencing a double war in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Aleppo has not been attacked since 2016, after Bashar al Assad’s military carried out a campaign with support from Russia, Iran and allied militias. Fighting had become less frequent in recent years.

This time, there was no sign of a significant reaction from government or allied forces. Instead, there are reports of official forces being easily defeated in the face of advances. The rebels called on social media for the troops to surrender.

The offensives by the rebels, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia, represent the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when the government recaptured some areas that were under militia control.

This comes at a time when Iranian-allied militias, notably Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has supported Bashar al Assad’s government since 2015, are embroiled in conflicts of their own.

In the case of Hezbollah, the conflict has been going on for a year and two months and has intensified in the last 70 days. Hezbollah was weakened by Israel’s bombing of its leadership and bases, both in Lebanon and also in Syria in more specific actions. The two reached a two-month ceasefire on Wednesday, the day the offensives in Syria began.

According to International Crisis Group senior adviser Dareen Khalifa, Syrian rebels have signaled for some time that they are ready for a new offensive. But no one expected the rapid advance of the forces towards Aleppo. “It’s not just that the Russians are distracted and bogged down in Ukraine, but the Iranians are distracted and bogged down elsewhere,” he said.

“Hezbollah is distracted and bogged down elsewhere, and the regime is absolutely cornered,” he added. “But the element of surprise comes with how quickly the regime collapsed.”

The attack on Aleppo came after weeks of low-intensity violence, which included Syrian government attacks on militia-controlled areas. Turkey, which has supported opposition militias in Syria, failed in diplomatic efforts to stop attacks by official forces, which were seen as a violation of a 2019 agreement sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran to freeze the line of conflict.

Turkish security officials said Thursday that rebel militias had initially launched a long-planned “limited” offensive toward Aleppo, where the attacks on civilians originated. However, the offensive expanded as government forces began to retreat from positions, officials said.

The aim of the offensive was to re-establish the boundaries of the de-escalation zone, Turkish authorities said.

Battle of Aleppo in 2016

In 2016, the conflict over control of Aleppo was a turning point in the civil war, which began in 2011 after protests against the government of Bashar al Assad.

Russia, Iran and allied Shiite militias helped Syrian government forces regain control of the city that year after a grueling military campaign and weeks-long siege.

In addition to supporting rebel militias, Turkey has also established a military presence in Syria, with troops in the northwest. Separately and largely in eastern Syria, the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants.

The Syrian government has not commented on the rebels entering Aleppo. The Kremlin, for its part, said it considered the attack an invasion of Syria’s sovereignty and that it supported the fastest possible establishment of constitutional order in the region.

Syria’s military said in a statement it had clashed with rebels in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib, destroying drones and heavy weaponry. They vowed to repel the attack and accused the rebels of spreading false information about their advances.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels detonated two car bombs on Friday in the far west of Aleppo. The war monitor said the insurgents had also managed to take control of Saraqeb, south of Aleppo, a city at the strategic junction of highways linking Aleppo with Damascus and the coast. Syrian government authorities diverted traffic from this highway on Thursday the 28th.

A rebel commander posted a recorded message on social media calling on Aleppo residents to cooperate with the advancing forces.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency reported that insurgents entered the city center on Friday and now control around 70 sites in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. Syrian state media reported that rebel shells fell on student accommodation at Aleppo university in the city center, killing four people, including two students.

In a phone call with his Syrian counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described insurgent attacks in Syria “as a conspiracy orchestrated by the US and the Zionist regime following the defeat of the regime in Lebanon and Palestine.”

The rebels posted videos online showing they were using drones, a new weapon for them. It was unclear to what extent the drones were used on the battlefield and how they were acquired.