The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched an offensive against government forces on Wednesday in opposition of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The attack is the first major conflict since a 2020 cease-fire ended most fighting in Syria.
The offensive is composed of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other rebel groups that have formed a coalition they are calling "Military Operations Command," which includes Islamist militants and more moderate groups that the United States formerly supported.
The existence of the MOC was announced Wednesday before the incursion into Aleppo due to what its organizers called an escalation of attacks from Syrian forces and Iran-backed militias.
The surprise attack swept through villages near Aleppo, which Syrian government forces had captured and restored to national control in 2016 during the nation's civil war.
The Syrian military on Saturday confirmed the rebel group entered the city and killed or wounded dozens of soldiers in an apparent resumption of the prior civil war.
Syrian forces withdrew from the city without engaging the rebel forces to organize a counteroffensive and retook positions in communities and towns located in and near Aleppo on Friday.
The governor of Aleppo, police and security forces also withdrew from the center of the city, most of which is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as of Saturday morning.
Government forces remain in control of the northeastern part of Aleppo with the help of Iranian-backed militia.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham declared a 24-hour curfew starting at 5 p.m. local time Saturday to protect residents and public and private property against harm.
The Aleppo airport is closed, said the Russian air force on Friday struck armed militants in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
Kurdish forces also have expanded their control of some neighborhoods in Aleppo and have fought with the rebel forces, CNN reported.
Aleppo has a population of nearly 2.1 million and is the capital of the Aleppo Governate, which is Syria's most populous governate. Aleppo is about 350 miles north of Damascus.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham formerly was an Al Qaeda affiliate called Jabhat al-Nusra that was created in 2011.
Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, in 2026 broke the group away from Al-Qaeda, merged with other groups and renamed it Hayat Tahriral-Sham in 2017.
Iran says to 'firmly support' Damascus after rebel attacks
Tehran (AFP) Dec 1, 2024 -
Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said Sunday he will leave Tehran for Damascus to deliver a message of support for Syria's government and armed forces, state media said, after a lighting advance by rebels.
Tehran has been a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the civil war that broke out in 2011. Iran maintains it does not have combat troops in Syria, only officers who provide military advice and training.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, of Lebanon, has for years fought on the side of the Syrian government.
"I am going to Damascus to convey the message of the Islamic Republic to the Syrian government," Araghchi said, emphasising Tehran will "firmly support the Syrian government and army," the IRNA state news agency reported.
Islamist-led rebels on Saturday seized Aleppo's airport and dozens of nearby towns after overrunning most of Syria's second city Aleppo, a war monitor said.
Syria's army confirmed that the rebels had entered "large parts" of the city of around two million people and said "dozens of men from our armed forces were killed".
Araghchi again called the surprise rebel offensive a plot by the United States and Israel.
"The Syrian army will once again win over these terrorist groups as in the past," the foreign minister added.
An Iranian news agency reported earlier that a general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed in Syria on Thursday during the fighting.
On Saturday, Iran's foreign ministry said its consulate in Aleppo had come under attack, but staff members were safe.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Araghchi who will visit Ankara for consultations with Turkish officials after his stop in Damascus.
Since 2020, the rebel enclave in Syria's northwestern Idlib region has been subject to a Turkish- and Russian-brokered truce that had largely been holding despite repeated violations.
But the insurgents' launch on Wednesday of a surprise offensive against the city of Aleppo shattered the truce, the same day a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Syrian government had regained control of a large part of the country in 2015 with the support of its Russian and Iranian allies, and in 2016 the entire city of Aleppo.
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