SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – Syrian rebels who oppose the government of dictator Bashar al-Assad claimed this Friday (29) to have advanced towards the city of Aleppo, in northern Syria, after a surprise offensive that advanced rapidly through areas controlled by the regime. reconquered territory and areas lost almost a decade ago at the hands of insurgent forces.
The fighters, led by the Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, began the offensive on Wednesday (29) and invaded a series of cities and towns in the north of Aleppo province, controlled by Assad since 2016.
They claim to have captured the strategic city of Saraqeb, a feat that, if confirmed, could make it difficult to send more government troops to the region, given the site’s location on one of the country’s main highways.
The Syrian regime, backed by Iran and Russia, has denied that the rebels have reached Aleppo. Assad remains in power after 13 years of civil war and controls much of the country, but has failed to completely eliminate rebel groups seeking to oust him from power. Today, these groups have Turkey as their main support, and the rebels claim that Ankara gave the green light to the surprise offensive.
One of the rebel commanders told the Reuters news agency that the advance on Aleppo was successful thanks to the lack of Iranian support in the region. Tehran has recently seen defeats by allied groups in the region, such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, involved in a war against Israel and whose leaders were killed by the Jewish state.
The offensive against Aleppo is the largest in the Syrian civil war since 2020, when Russia and Türkiye reached an agreement to de-escalate the conflict. Damascus said Friday that fighting in Aleppo continues and that its forces receive air support from Moscow and have caused heavy casualties to the rebels.
The UN expressed its concern about the new developments. “Heavy fighting in recent days has killed 27 civilians, including an eight-year-old child,” said UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria David Carden. “Civilians and civilian infrastructure are not legitimate targets and must be protected in accordance with international law.”
Syrian state media said four civilians, including two students, were killed after rebels bombed a university residence in Aleppo. Russian and Syrian warplanes, in turn, attacked regions near the border with Türkiye this Thursday to try to repel the advance of the insurgents.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov called the attack a violation of Syrian sovereignty. “We support the country’s authorities in their efforts to restore constitutional order in the region as quickly as possible,” he said.
