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Russian warplanes have launched deadly strikes on Aleppo in support of president Bashar al-Assad, after insurgents entered Syria’s second city in a shock assault marking their largest advance in years.
Commanders of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is leading the push, said they intended to force the dictatorial president’s army out of the city, representing a major threat to his rule at a time when his allies in Iran-backed Hezbollah have been severely weakened by Israel.
Thousands of Syrian insurgents were deployed across the city in armoured vehicles on Saturday, to landmarks such as the old citadel, residents said, as the rebels claimed to seize control of Aleppo airport – and senior diplomats in Russia, Iran and Turkey held phone calls to discuss the situation.
Friday marked the first time Aleppo has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when Syrian government forces were ousted from the city’s eastern neighbourhoods following a gruelling military campaign in which they were backed by Russia, Iran, and allied groups.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the insurgents had entered Aleppo’s city centre on Friday and seized control of approximately 70 locations in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, as residents fled neighbourhoods on the city’s western edge due to missiles and exchanges of fire.
The Syrian military sought to insist on Saturday that the insurgents had not been able to establish fixed positions in Aleppo due to the army’s continued bombardment of their positions. Yet the army later said it had conducted a “temporary troop withdrawal” in Aleppo to prepare for a counteroffensive.
At least 16 people were killed and 20 others injured in an attack targeting a roundabout by suspected Russian fighter jets on Saturday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said, in what would be the first Russian strikes on Aleppo since 2016.
In addition to Russian airstrikes, Syrian military sources told Reuters on Saturday that Damascus expected new Russian military hardware to start arriving at Moscow’s Hmeimim airbase, near Syria’s coastal city of Latakia, in the next 72 hours.
More than 320 people have so far lost their lives since the latest flare-up of violence began on Wednesday, including 179 members of regime forces and proxies, and at least 44 civilians, SOHR said.
In addition to those killed at Aleppo’s Al Basel roundabout, where insurgents had earlier toppled a statue of the president’s late brother Basel al-Assad, war monitors alleged that a further 23 civilians, including four children, were killed in Russian airstrikes.
Four university students were killed in rocket fire by HTS insurgents on the university student dormitory in Aleppo city, according to SOHR, which earlier said the insurgents blew up two car bombs at the city’s western edge on Friday.
An insurgent commander posted a recorded message on social media calling on the city’s residents to cooperate with the advancing forces. Fighters also advanced on the town of Saraqab in the northwestern Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.
As the fighting continued on Saturday, the BBC reported that the insurgents had imposed a curfew in Aleppo until Sunday. And sources among the insurgents said they had also captured the city of Maraat al Numan, bringing all of Idlib province under their control, in what would be another significant blow to Mr Assad.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned on Saturday what it called “aggression by terrorist elements” against its consulate in Aleppo but said its diplomats were safe, Iranian state media reported.
Tehran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi will travel to Damascus on Sunday, before visiting Turkey on Monday, the ministry said.
This week’s advances come after weeks of low-level, simmering violence. It is the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.
The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the conflict between Syrian government forces and opposition forces that began when the 2011 protests against Mr Assad’s rule turned into all-out war. Russia, Iran, and allied groups helped Syrian government forces to reclaim control of all of Aleppo that year, after a gruelling military campaign and a siege that lasted for weeks.
Warning that the United Nations was deeply alarmed by the situation, David Carden, the UN’s deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, David Carden, said on Friday that civilians and children as young as eight had been killed in relentless attacks.
“Civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targets, and must be protected under international humanitarian law,” said Mr Carden.
Russian and Syrian warplanes bombed the area near the border with Turkey on Thursday to try to push back the offensive.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said Moscow regarded the rebel attack as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and wanted the authorities to act fast to regain control.
“We are in favour of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible,” said Mr Peskov.
Asked about unconfirmed Russian Telegram reports that Mr Assad had flown in to Moscow for talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Mr Peskov said he had “nothing to say” on the matter.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
Source: independent.co.uk
