Syrian rebels enter Aleppo for first time in years after shock offensive | EUROtoday

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Insurgents preventing the regime of Bashar al-Assad have entered Syria’s second metropolis of Aleppo in a shock assault – their largest advance in years.

Commanders with the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is main the push, mentioned they supposed to pressure the president’s military out of town.

It is the primary time town has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when Syrian authorities forces had been ousted from Aleppo’s jap neighbourhoods following a gruelling army marketing campaign wherein they had been backed by Russia, Iran, and allied teams.

Witnesses in Aleppo mentioned residents had been fleeing neighbourhoods on the western fringe of town due to missiles and exchanges of fireplace.

Syria’s armed forces mentioned in a press release on Friday that they’d clashed with insurgents within the countryside round Aleppo and Idlib, and that various their drones and heavy weapons had been destroyed. They vowed to repel the assault and accused the insurgents of spreading false details about their advances.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organisation that displays the battle, mentioned the insurgents blew up two automobile bombs on the metropolis’s western edge on Friday.

An rebel commander posted a recorded message on social media calling on town’s residents to cooperate with the advancing forces.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the opposition insurgents had entered Aleppo’s metropolis centre on Friday. It added that the insurgents now management roughly 70 places within the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib.

Fighters additionally superior in town of Saraqab within the northwestern Idlib province, a strategic space that might safe provide strains to Aleppo.

This week’s advances come after weeks of low-level, simmering violence. It is probably the most intense preventing in northwestern Syria since 2020, when authorities forces seized areas beforehand managed by opposition fighters.

The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning level within the battle between Syrian authorities forces and opposition forces that started when the 2011 protests towards Mr Assad’s rule became all-out struggle. Russia and Iran, together with allied teams, helped Syrian authorities forces to reclaim management of all of Aleppo that 12 months, after a gruelling army marketing campaign and a siege that lasted for weeks.

Fighting over the past three days has killed at the very least 27 civilians, together with eight kids, a UN official mentioned on Friday.

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David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria disaster, mentioned: “We’re deeply alarmed by the situation unfolding in northwest Syria.

“Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as eight years old.

“Civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targets, and must be protected under international humanitarian law.”

Russian and Syrian warplanes bombed the world close to the border with Turkey on Thursday to attempt to push again the offensive.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov mentioned Moscow regarded the insurgent assault as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and wished the authorities to behave quick to regain management.

“As for the situation around Aleppo, it is an attack on Syrian sovereignty, and we are in favour of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible,” mentioned Mr Peskov.

Asked about unconfirmed Russian Telegram experiences that Mr Assad had flown in to Moscow for talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Mr Peskov mentioned he had “nothing to say” on the matter.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report