Syrian rebel fighters have taken control of a majority of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, for the first time since 2016, a monitor of Syria’s war said Saturday, as clashes continued with government forces and Russian warplanes launched airstrikes on parts of the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has researchers across the war-torn country, said Saturday Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance led by al-Qaida's former Syria branch, and allied factions seized control of most of the city, government centers and prisons.
"The governor of Aleppo and the leadership of police and security branches withdrew from the center of the city, and regime forces and reinforcement escaped from the city to Al-Safirah area," the Observatory added.
"There has been no fighting, not a single shot was fired, as regime forces withdrew," he said.
A witness in Aleppo, who did not want to be named for security reasons, confirmed to VOA that rebel forces advanced Friday in parts of the city after clashes with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Reuters, citing military sources, said Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport as well as all roads leading into the city on Saturday.
It was the first major attack on Aleppo since 2016, when Syrian government forces, supported by Iranian-backed militias and the Russian air force, pushed out rebel factions from the eastern parts of the city during the height of Syria’s civil war.
Another witness in Aleppo, who also didn’t want to be identified for security reasons, said the fighting has forced thousands of residents to flee to safer parts of the city. The witness told VOA there were clashes in a neighborhood in the western part of the city, adding that Syrian government forces ended up withdrawing from the area.
Friday’s advance in Aleppo is part of a major offensive launched by Syrian rebels and their allies that began Wednesday. Rebel forces said they had taken control of dozens of towns and villages in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib in the past two days.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday that 277 people have been killed in clashes since Wednesday, most of those rebels and Syrian soldiers.
However, David Carden, U.N. deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, said Friday that the fighting has also killed at least 27 civilians, including children.
The Syrian military said in a statement Friday that “its armed forces operating on frontlines in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib continue to counter the major attack carried out by the terrorist organizations,” referring to rebel forces. The military did not comment on the ongoing situation in Aleppo city.
Experts have linked the latest developments in Aleppo to shifting dynamics elsewhere in the Middle East.
"Since 2016, those defending Aleppo were Iran and Hezbollah, but both are now in vastly different circumstances," said Ahmed Rahal, a former Syrian military general who defected from the army in 2012. He now works as a military analyst in Istanbul.
"Iran is currently preoccupied with its conflict with Israel and Hezbollah has nearly been decimated [by Israel]," he told VOA. "The regime is unable to defend Aleppo, particularly after its total collapse in five neighbors on Friday."
While Russia, a key backer of the Assad government, has carried out airstrikes against rebel forces in recent days, it has not targeted the advancing rebel fighters in Aleppo city. According to the Syrian Observatory, Russian warplanes on Friday carried out at least 20 airstrikes in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.
Military sources told Reuters that Russia has promised Damascus extra military aid to combat the rebels.
Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Oncu Keceli, said in a statement Friday that "the recent clashes have resulted in an undesirable escalation of tensions in the region," calling on the warring sides to respect previous deescalation agreements sponsored by Turkey and Russia.
Nicholas Heras, a Middle East expert at the New Lines Institute, a Washington-based research group, said that Turkey has long been dissatisfied with Russia's inability to deliver an agreement to normalize Ankara’s ties with the Assad government, saying that "this current offensive needs to be placed in that strategic context."
However, he told VOA, "Neither Russia nor Iran has an interest in Aleppo city falling to the Syrian rebels, and this means that there is a real risk that the situation could devolve into a big crisis."
"Moscow and Tehran cannot risk Assad losing Aleppo because there is a regionwide perception that [Iran’s self-described] Axis of Resistance is on the ropes after Hezbollah and Hamas took major damage from Israel's military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon," Heras said.
This story originated in VOA’s Kurdish service. Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
