1000+ unique media and news posts every 24 hours…
BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents entered Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, after blowing up two car bombs on Friday and clashed with government forces on the city’s western edge, according to a Syrian war monitor and fighters.
It was the first time the city had been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were driven out of Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods after a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.
Witnesses in the city of Aleppo said residents have fled neighborhoods on the western edge of the city due to rockets and gun battles. The government did not comment on insurgents violating city limits.
The Syrian armed forces said in a statement on Friday that they have clashed with insurgents in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib, destroying several of their drones and heavy weapons. It vowed to repel the attack and accused the insurgents of spreading false information about their claims.
Thousands of insurgents have been advancing on the city of Aleppo since launching a shock offensive on Wednesday, capturing several towns and villages along the way.
The offensive came as Iranian-affiliated groups, which have supported Syrian government forces since 2015, were preoccupied with their own battle at home.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the insurgents blew up two car bombs on the western outskirts of the city on Friday.
An insurgent commander published a recorded message on social media calling on the city’s residents to cooperate with the advancing forces.
Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu Agency said opposition insurgents entered Aleppo’s city center on Friday. According to the report, the insurgents “broke the defense lines of the regime’s forces along the Hamdaniyya, New Aleppo and Zahra axis on the outskirts of the city.”
It added that the insurgents now control about 70 locations in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
Syrian state media reported earlier Friday that insurgent projectiles landed in student housing at Aleppo University in the city center, killing four people, including two students. Public transport to the city was also diverted from the main highway linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus to avoid clashes, the report said.
Fighters also advanced towards the city of Saraqab, in the northwestern province of Idlib, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.
This week’s progress was among the largest by opposition factions, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and comes after weeks of simmering violence. In northwestern Syria, fighting is at its fiercest since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.
Syrian forces say the rebels are violating a 2019 agreement that de-escalated fighting in the area, which has been the last remaining opposition stronghold for years.
The war monitor Observatory said dozens of fighters from both sides were killed in the fighting that began on Wednesday. The insurgents have taken control of more than 50 villages during their advance, appearing to have caught government forces unprepared.
Hezbollah, the leading group in an Iran-linked alliance that has supported the Syrian government, is engaged in a war with Israel that has escalated since September. A ceasefire was declared on Wednesday, the day the Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks on Hezbollah Targets linked to Iran in Syria for the past 70 days.
“Hezbollah was the main force in the government’s control of the city,” said Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Observatory.
The insurgents said earlier Friday that fighters had seized control of the Scientific Research Center district, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the western outskirts of Aleppo city. Government-affiliated media denied that the insurgents had seized it.
The Associated Press could not immediately verify the claims.
Insurgents posted videos online showing them using drones in their advance, a new weapon they had not had before in the earlier stages of their confrontation with government forces. It was not clear to what extent the drones were used on the battlefield.
Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, reporting from Idlib, said insurgents attacked a military airbase southeast of the city of Aleppo with drones and destroyed a helicopter early Friday. According to the report, the opposition groups seized heavy weapons, depots and military vehicles from government forces during their advance.
Aid agencies said the fighting has displaced thousands of families and forced some services to be suspended. Opposition fighters said their offensive will allow the return of thousands of displaced people forced to flee the government bombardment in recent weeks.
The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters since protests against Bashar Assad’s rule turned into all-out war in 2011.
Russia and Iran and their allied groups had helped Syrian government forces regain control of all of Aleppo that year, after a grueling military campaign and a weeks-long siege.
Turkey has been a key backer of a range of opposition forces and its forces have established a military presence in parts of northwestern Syria. Separately and largely in eastern Syria, the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants.
__________
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey and Albert Aji from Damascus, Syria.
1000+ unique media and news posts every 24 hours…