AMMAN: The Syrian army said on Saturday a large number of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack by anti-government fighters who swept into Aleppo, a city in the northwest, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar Al Assad in years.

The surprise attack, led by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), an Al Qaeda affiliate, has jolted the frontlines of the Syrian civil war that have largely been frozen since 2020, reviving fighting in a corner of the fractured country near the Turkish border. The Syrian army said it was preparing a counter-offensive to restore state authority.

Acknowledging the advance, the army command said “insurgents have entered large parts of Aleppo”, which had been under full state control since government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, drove the HTS out eight years ago.

Images from Aleppo showed a group of fighters gathered in the city’s Saadallah Al Jabiri Square after entering the city on Friday night, a billboard of President Assad looming behind them.

Anti-govt fighters claim control over entire Idlib province

“I am the son of Aleppo, and was displaced from it eight years ago, in 2016. Thank God we just returned. It is an indescribable feeling,” said Ali Jumbaa, an HTS fighter, television footage showed.

The Syrian military command said the group had attacked in large numbers and from multiple directions, prompting “our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defence lines in order to absorb the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack”.

The Syrian army said bombardment had stopped the “insurgents from establishing fixed positions”. It promised to “expel them and restore control of the state … over the entire city and its countryside”.

Two HTS sources said the anti-government fighters had also captured the city of Maraat Al Numan, in Idlib province, bringing all of that province under their control, in what would be another significant blow to Bashar al Assad.

The fighting revives the long-simmering Syrian conflict as the wider region is roiled by the strife in Gaza and Lebanon, where a truce took effect on Wednesday.

The attack was launched from north-western Syria that remain outside Assad’s grasp.

Two Syrian military sources said that Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted the HTS fighters in an Aleppo suburb on Saturday.

Speaking on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow regarded the attack on Aleppo as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty. “We are in favour of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible,” he said.

The Syrian Civil Defence, a rescue service operating in opposition-held parts of Syria, said in a post on X that Syrian government and Russian aircraft carried out air strikes on residential neighbourhoods, a fuel station and a school in Idlib, killing four civilians and wounding six others.

The two Syrian military sources said Russia had promised Damascus extra military aid that would start arriving early next week.

Authorities closed Aleppo airport and roads to the city, the two military sources said.

The Syrian army has been told to follow “safe withdrawal” orders from the main areas of the city that the HTS had entered.

The rebels, including factions backed by Turkey, said on Friday their fighters were sweeping through various Aleppo neighbourhoods.

Mustafa Abdul Jaber, a commander in the Jaish Al Izza brigade, said their speedy advance had been helped by a lack of Iran-backed manpower to support the government in the broader Aleppo province.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart on Friday, accused the United States and Israel of being behind the Aleppo attack.

The opposition fighters have said the campaign was in response to “stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians” by the Russian and Syrian air forces on areas of Idlib province, and to pre-empt any attacks by the Syrian army.

Turkiye’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the clashes in Aleppo had resulted in an undesirable escalation of tensions.

In a statement, spokesperson Oncu Keceli said that avoiding greater instability in the region was Turkiye’s priority, adding that Ankara had warned that recent attacks on Idlib undermined the spirit and implementation of de-escalation agreements.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2024