Syrian rebel forces have breached Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, in their strongest and swiftest advance since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
The fighters, led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), reached the city center on Friday evening after having been expelled from Aleppo nearly ten years ago by regime forces and allies of President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian army told Reuters on Saturday dozens of its soldiers had been killed in the attack, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to the Assad regime in years.
The same forces also reportedly seize a Russian military armored vehicle in the northern Hama countryside, southwest of Aleppo, on Saturday evening. Local sources reported regime forces were retreating from Hama and Homs, further south from Hama. However, the reports are unconfirmed, and denied by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
It’s not yet clear how the situation will affect the State of Israel and its recent ceasefire agreement with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon — if at all.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has in the past held strong ties with Al Qaeda; however, in 2016, the group’s leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani publicly dissolved Jabhat al-Nusra to form HTS, announcing the group had broken ties with Al Qaeda.
Nevertheless, HTS is perceived to be a threat to the lives of some 20,000 Christians living in Aleppo. The group has imposed a curfew on the city until Sunday morning.
A girls’ school in Syria’s Idlib, where the rebels who have taken over Aleppo come from.
Draw your own conclusions.
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) November 30, 2024
International Christian groups are expressing fears for the safety of local members of various local Christian sects.
Currently, there are more than thirty churches in #Aleppo and around twenty thousand Christians from the #Greek Levantine Orthodox, Catholic, Syriac, and Armenian communities. The city is entirely under the control of jihadists. Please pray for their safety. pic.twitter.com/GbOGzrSl3s
— Greco-Levantines World Wide (@GrecoLevantines) November 30, 2024
Among the strategic targets reportedly seized by the rebel forces was the Syrian government’s Military Scientific Research Center on the outskirts of the city.
The rebel forces also seized control over the Citadel of Aleppo, a symbolic victory over one of the largest castles in the world, a hill fortified for more than 5,000 years. The castle itself was built around the time of the Crusades; scenes of Islamic forces raising their flag of jihad over the site has created a wave of horror among Christian communities.
Absolutely wild scenes from Aleppo today, as islamic terrorists raise the flag of jihad above the Citadel.
Civilians, minorities and ancient heritage are all in grave danger.
— ???? ???? ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) November 30, 2024
Kurdish forces were reportedly sent to Aleppo to try and block the advance of the opposition forces – but the situation remains unclear, with unconfirmed reports of attacks, gains and losses on both sides.
An estimated 5,000 Kurdish forces have been sent to Aleppo, #Syria to prevent further gains by al Qaeda affiliates.
There are reports that the SDF has advanced into new neighborhoods of Aleppo to protect the Christian population from the Islamists.
Here is footage of… pic.twitter.com/hEla0aojEv
— Diliman Abdulkader (@D_abdulkader) November 30, 2024
The government’s official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) denied reports Saturday night by opposition forces the regime army had withdrawn from Hama governorate, southwest of Aleppo in central Syria.
The Syrian Civil Defense, a rescue service operating in opposition-held parts of Syria, said in a post on the X social media platform that Syrian government and Russian aircraft carried out airstrikes on residential neighborhoods in rebel-held Idlib.
Russia, a longtime Assad ally, promised to send new military hardware by the end of the weekend, according to sources quoted by Reuters.
Russian and Iranian foreign ministers spoke by phone on Saturday to discuss the situation and agreed to coordinate their response together with Turkey, according to the BBC.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call that the rebel attacks were part of an Israeli-US plan to destabilize the region, Iranian state media said.
Lavrov also held a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, discussing the situation in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
Both Russia and Iran have maintained significant military forces in Syria for decades, and it is important to note that the country has not entirely been controlled by Assad since the civil war ended about four years ago.
An eastern region controlled by its Kurdish majority essentially separated from Syria during the civil war. The northwestern province of Idlib remains largely controlled by the jihadist and rebel forces that launched the revolution in 2011 – and it is these same forces that have now seized control over Aleppo.
