In Syria, jihadists and their allies enter Aleppo, after an offensive which has already left more than 250 dead

INTERNATIONAL – The human toll is rising rapidly in Aleppo and its surroundings. After two days of a dazzling offensive against the Syrian regime which left more than 255 dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), the jihadists and their allies arrived this Friday, November 29 at the gates of Aleppo. And begin to enter the city.

Bombed for the first time in four years, Syria's second largest city is still holding out, but for how long? Because according to the OSDH, the jihadist fighters had already conquered a significant area before arriving at the gates of Aleppo. “ More than 50 towns and villages in the Aleppo and Idlib regions » held by the Syrian regime fell into the hands of jihadists and their allies.

As a result, a Syrian security official told AFP that the army urgently sent reinforcements to Aleppo. Where from “ violent fighting » take place to the west of the city. According to this source, the attackers “have not reached the limits of the city”, after cutting the vital road linking the capital Damascus to Aleppo on Thursday. Information since contradicted by the NGO and witnesses who affirm that the jihadist and rebel forces “ entered the west and southwest districts » of Aleppo, causing scenes of panic.

“Our forces continue to repel the major offensive launched by armed terrorist groups (…)”however assured the army in a press release, adding that it had “was able to regain control of certain positions”. The OSDH reported 24 civilians killed, including 19 in strikes by Russian air force, an ally of the regime, on rebel areas, in response to the jihadist offensive.

New fights since 2020

The OSDH, an NGO based in the United Kingdom which has a vast network of sources in Syria, affirms that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied groups, some close to Turkey, reached the city ​​gates. The fighters “entered the outskirts of the Al-Hamdaniya and New Aleppo neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo after carrying out two suicide attacks with car bombs”again according to this NGO.

The Syrian agency Sana also reports four civilians killed in a bombing on the university city of Aleppo during a “ aggression of terrorist organizations ».

As it stands, these are already the most violent clashes since 2020 in north-west Syria, where the province of Aleppo, largely in the hands of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, borders the last major bastion rebel and jihadist from Idlib.

During the civil war which broke out in 2011, the forces of the Syrian regime, supported by the Russian air force, recaptured in 2016 the eastern part of Aleppo, the large city in northern Syria, from the hands of the insurgents thanks to devastating bombings. Aware of the situation this Friday, the Kremlin also called on the Syrian authorities to “put things in order as quickly as possible” in Aleppo. Qualifying this offensive as “ attack on the sovereignty of Syria “. Iran also provided support to its Syrian ally.

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