BREITBART | Published November 30, 2024
Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, launched a surprise offense in Idlib province on Thursday.
The regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad and his patrons in Russia responded with airstrikes, but were unable to prevent the insurgents from breaching Aleppo, Syria’s second-most important city.
Turkish media on Friday broadcast footage of HTS fighters entering Aleppo with uniformed soldiers and armored fighting vehicles. Residents of the city told foreign media they could hear missiles striking the outskirts of the city.
Four civilians, including two students, were killed on Friday when bombs struck a student dormitory in Aleppo. Syrian state media blamed the deaths on HTS artillery fire.
The assault on Aleppo began with two car bombings and quickly escalated to skirmishes between the rebels and government troops. Syrian state media claimed a “major offensive” was repelled, while Turkish media said the rebels were able to reach the city center.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Syrian government warplanes conducted at least 125 airstrikes across Idlib and western Aleppo since the offensive began three days ago. At least 12 civilians were killed and 46 wounded in these strikes, which forced 14,000 people from their homes.
As of Friday morning, HTS said it controlled dozens of towns in Idlib and western Aleppo, adding four more to its total in the past 24 hours of fighting.
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
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TELEGRAPH | Published November 30, 2024
As Syrian rebels bore down on the city of Aleppo, their communication channels published photos of a bearded man in military clothing directing the offensive.
For the man sitting with subordinates at banks of telephones, the surprise push apparently marked the most electrifying chapter yet in a career as one of the Syrian civil war’s most significant, but also most disputed and enigmatic leaders.
As head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani leads the main rebel group in north-west Syria, controlling about half of Idlib province and parts of neighbouring Aleppo, Latakia and Hama.
This territory is home to nearly three million displaced people and is the main opposition enclave to Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Here he has attempted to cultivate the image of a community-oriented civic leader protecting residents while delivering public services.
Yet to the American government and others, he is also a designated terrorist with a $10m (£7.9m) bounty on his head because of his past as an al-Qaeda extremist.
Jolani, whose real name is Ahmed Hussein al Shara, joined al-Qaeda after moving to Iraq in 2003 to fight against American forces.
He spent several years in US military prisons, before returning to Syria in 2011 to set up the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, when the civil war erupted.
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