Syrian government troops are battling insurgents inside Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, for the first time since 2016, according to state media — the most significant challenge in years to President Bashar al-Assad's rule over the war-torn country.
It came after rebel fighters led by militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham broke through government defence lines in Aleppo on Friday, entering the city's western neighbourhoods with little resistance following a shock offensive launched earlier in the week from the countryside in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
The insurgents took control of dozens of villages and towns along the way, including a strategic town south of Aleppo, and on Saturday claimed to control the entirety of Idlib province after capturing the city of Maraat Al-Numan, south of Idlib city.
In Aleppo, Russian warplanes allied with the Syrian government are targeting rebel supply lines on the city's edge, with independent war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying about 20 fighters had been killed in air strikes on rebel reinforcements.
Thousands of civilians are now fleeing the city by car from the main Khanasir Athriya intersection, according to local residents, mostly heading to Latakia and Salamiya — government strongholds to the west and south.
Schools and government offices in Aleppo were closed on Saturday as most people stayed indoors to avoid the fighting, according to Sham FM radio, a pro-government station. Bakeries, however, remained open.
Insurgents use social media to show off territorial gains
In a social media post, a number of insurgents were pictured outside the Aleppo citadel, a medieval palace in the old city centre which is one of the largest in the world.
The rebels also posted mobile phone videos of themselves speaking to residents in their homes, seeking to reassure them they will cause no harm.
A Syrian rebel takes a picture with his phone in Aleppo's Saadallah al-Jabiri Square on Saturday. (Reuters: Mahmoud Hasano)
State media, however, referring to the fighters as terrorists, said a number of them had been chased and arrested by government troops after posing for pictures near city landmarks.
On a state TV morning show, commentators on Saturday said army reinforcements and Russia's assistance will eventually repel the insurgents, blaming Türkiye for supporting their push into the Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
Russia's state news agency Tass also quoted Oleg Ignasyuk, a Russian defence ministry official coordinating in Syria, as saying Russian planes had targeted and killed 200 militants taking part in the offensive on Friday. It provided no further details.
Rebel attack follows weeks of simmering tension
Aleppo has not been attacked by opposition forces since they were ousted from eastern neighbourhoods in 2016 following a gruelling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.
The battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the country's long-running civil war, which began in 2011 following protests against Bashar al-Assad's rule.
The latest rebel attack on Aleppo followed weeks of simmering low-level violence, including government attacks on opposition-held areas.
Rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drive along a street in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, on Friday. (Reuters: Mahmoud Hasano)
Türkiye, which has backed Syrian opposition groups, failed in its diplomatic efforts to prevent the Syrian government attacks, which were seen as a violation of a 2019 agreement sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran to freeze the line of the conflict.
The rebel offensive came as Iran-linked groups backing the Assad regime, primarily Lebanon's Hezbollah, have been preoccupied with their own battles at home.
A ceasefire in Hezbollah's two-month war with Israel took effect on Wednesday, the day the Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria over the past 70 days.
ABC/Wires