Syrian opposition fighters entered the village of Anjara, on the western outskirts of Aleppo, on Thursday.(AP Photo: Omar Albam)
ABC.NET | Published November 29, 2024
Syrian insurgents have breached Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, and are clashing with government forces on the city’s western edge, according to a Syrian war monitor as well as fighters themselves.
It is the first time the city has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo’s eastern neighbourhoods by government forces backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups — a turning point in the country’s civil war.
This week, thousands of insurgents have been advancing toward Aleppo in a shock offensive they launched on Wednesday, seizing more than 50 towns and villages along the way, as well as vehicles and heavy weapons from military depots.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the insurgents blew up two car bombs at the city’s western edge on Friday. Türkiye’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported they entered the city centre later that day.
Fighters also advanced on the town of Saraqab, in Syria’s north-western Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.
One insurgent commander posted a message on social media calling on the city’s residents to cooperate with the advancing forces, while other insurgents posted videos showing they were using drones in their advance — a new technology they had not had access to in the earlier stages of their conflict with government forces.
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SOURCE: www.abc.net.au
RELATED: Syria: Russia fails to halt Aleppo offensive with war planes diverted to Ukraine
A rebel inspects a seized Syrian army rocket launcher in the Khan al-Assal district of Aleppo on 29 November 2024 (Aaref Watad/AFP)
MIDDLE EAST EYE | Published November 29, 2024
Russia is struggling to contain a Syrian rebel offensive on Aleppo, as fighters make rapid progress towards the city centre.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow views the offensive as a violation of Syrian sovereignty and expects Bashar al-Assad’s government to restore order as soon as possible.
Notably, he did not announce any Russian plans for de-escalation or suggest that Moscow would step in forcefully to back Syrian government forces, as it has in the past.
Turkish security sources told Middle East Eye that Russia was slow to respond to the developments on the ground because it had relocated most of its aerial assets to Ukraine to support its military campaign there.
This left behind a smaller force in Syria, insufficient to effectively counter the rebel assault, which began on Wednesday.
This left behind a smaller force in Syria, insufficient to effectively counter the rebel assault, which began on Wednesday.
Omer Ozkizilcik, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, said that while Russia attempted to curb the offensive by targeting select locations in Idlib and other areas of northwestern Syria, its efforts were insufficient to halt the offensive.
“Russia is not a bystander, but we are likely witnessing the limits of the Russian military,” he said. “The two-day performance of Russia indicates that much of its air force capability has been redeployed to Ukraine.”
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