AMMAN: Hundreds of fighters from Iraqi militias crossed into Syria on Sunday night to help Damascus take back Aleppo from anti-government fighters who seized the city last week.

Over 300 fighters, primarily from the Badr and Nujabaa groups, crossed late on Sunday using a dirt road to avoid the official border crossing, two Iraqi security sources said.

“These are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north,” a senior Syrian military source said, adding the fighters had crossed in small groups to avoid air strikes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday Syria’s military was capable of confronting its opponents but, referring to the regional militia groups Tehran backs, he added that “resistance groups will help and Iran will provide any support needed”.

Russian planes bomb positions of anti-Damascus fighters

Syrian government and Russian warplanes intensified attacks on Monday in areas held by fighters belonging to the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) group in the northwest, including a strike on a displaced people’s camp that killed seven.

The lightning assault by HTS last week caught many in the region unaware, dealing President Assad his biggest blow in years and reigniting a conflict that had appeared frozen for years after civil war front lines stabilised in 2020. Although Russia has been focused on the war in Ukraine since 2022, it retains an air base in northern Syria.

US ‘offer’ to Assad

The United States and the United Arab Emirates have discussed the possibility of trying to peel Bashar Al Assad away from Iran by offering to lift sanctions if he cuts off “weapons routes to Hezbollah” in Lebanon, according to sources familiar with the matter.

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The discussions took place before the HTS advance on Aleppo last week, the sources said.

Syria’s conflict erupted in a revolt against Assad’s rule in 2011 and the HTS, together with its allied groups, held much of Aleppo from 2012 until 2016, when Syrian forces retook it with help from Russia and Iran-backed militia in a major turning point of the war.

Any prolonged escalation in Syria risks further destabilising a region already roiled by the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, with millions of Syrians already displaced and with regional and global powers backing rival forces in the country.

The anti-Assad forces include mainstream groups backed by Turkiye, as well as Hayat Tahrir Al Sham which was formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda. Turkiye also has a military presence in a strip of Syrian territory along its border.

Kurdish-led forces that Ankara calls terrorists, but which fought the militant Islamic State group with US help, hold territory in the northeast.

The Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers met on Monday and discussed the fighting in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the HTS advances could not be explained by foreign intervention and urged the Syrian opposition to compromise.

Air strikes

Russia, whose 2015 entry into the conflict turned the military balance decisively in Assad’s favour, continues to support the Syrian president and is analysing the situation on the ground, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Moscow dismissed the general in charge of its forces in Syria on Sunday, Russian war bloggers reported.

According to Damascus, Syrian and Russian air forces were striking bases of anti-government fighters in the countryside east of Aleppo city.

The White Helmets rescue organisation and residents of rebel-held areas in the north said warplanes had hit residential areas of Aleppo city and a displaced people’s camp in Idlib province where seven people were killed, including five children.

The government said the military was working to secure a string of towns it recaptured on Sunday that run along the front line north of Hama, a city lying between Aleppo and the capital Damascus.

In Turkiye, Syrian opposition leader Hadi Al Bahra said the HTS and its allies were trying to force the Syrian government to accept a political transition. “We are ready to start negotiating tomorrow,” Bahra told a press conference.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2024