Islamist rebels hold most of Aleppo and its airport, according to OSDH

A coalition of groups hostile to the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, led by the radical Islamists of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (Levant Liberation Organization, HTC), has seized most of Aleppo, Syria’s second city , and its airport, as part of a lightning offensive which left more than 327 dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

The organization close to the opposition, which has a vast network of sources on site, reported air raids by the Russian army before dawn in Aleppo, an event without precedent since forces loyal to Bashar Al-Assad retook the city from the rebels in 2016.

On Saturday afternoon, 16 civilians were killed in an air raid ” probably “ carried out by the Russian air force against “civilian vehicles” in a sector of Aleppo in the hands of the insurgents, again according to the OSDH.

Hostilities had generally ceased between the belligerents supported by different regional and international powers with divergent interests in this civil war which broke out in 2011. With crucial military support from Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, Bashar’s regime Al-Assad reconquered most of the country in 2015 and all of Aleppo, in the northwest, the following year, but large areas still elude him.

Islamist rebels control entire swaths of Idlib province and parts of neighboring Aleppo province, as well as Hama and Latakia. Large areas of the northeast of the country are also in the hands of Syrian Kurdish forces.

Entered Aleppo on Friday, “the HTC and allied factions have taken most of the city, government buildings and prisons”according to the OSDH. On site, these fighters celebrated their entry into the city, some posing in front of the historic citadel, others planting their flag in front of a police station displaying a large portrait of Mr. Al-Assad, according to Agence France correspondents. -Press (AFP) on site.

“No significant resistance”

The Syrian army confirmed the presence of rebels in “large parts” of Aleppo and reports on “tens” deaths and injuries. According to a latest report from the OSDH, the fighting left 183 rebels dead, 100 in the ranks of government forces and 44 among civilians. “Most civilians are staying at home and public and private institutions are almost completely closed”according to pro-government radio Sham FM.

According to OSDH director Rami Abdel Rahmane, rebel groups, some of which are supported by Turkey, quickly took large areas of Aleppo without encountering significant resistance. “There was no fighting” and the forces of the regime, as well as “the governor of Aleppo and the police and security commanders withdrew from the city center”he added.

The offensive also allowed the rebels to conquer around fifty localities, including the key city of Saraqeb, south of Aleppo, at the intersection of two highways linking Damascus to Aleppo and Latakia, according to the OSDH. “The regime lines collapsed at an incredible pace that took everyone by surprise”estimates Dareen Khalifa, expert from the International Crisis Group.

Iran calls on Russia for coordinated action

The head of ” government “ proclaimed by the HTC in Idlib, Mohammad Al-Bashir, said Thursday that the offensive was launched after “the regime massed forces on the front lines and bombarded civilian areas”. The Turkish army, which controls several areas of northern Syria, called on Friday to put « fin » to “attacks” in Idlib and its region after a series of raids by Russian and Syrian air forces. The Russian army announced on Friday that its air force was bombing groups “extremists” in Syria, in support of the regime forces.

During a telephone conversation, the heads of Russian and Turkish diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan, “expressed their deep concern at the dangerous developments in the situation in Syria, linked to the military escalation in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib”according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, who also spoke with Sergei Lavrov, for his part, pleaded on Saturday for a « coordination » between Tehran and Moscow, both allies of Damascus, in order to “neutralize this dangerous plot and thwart the actions of terrorist groups in Syria and the region”.

Northwest Syria has benefited in recent years from a precarious calm made possible by a ceasefire established following a regime offensive in March 2020 and sponsored by Moscow and Ankara. The rebel offensive launched the day a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hezbollah and Israel, in open war for more than two months. Israel has also bombed Hezbollah sites in Syria.

The complex civil war that broke out in March 2011 in Syria left half a million dead and millions displaced.