On the 30th, Syrian rebel forces, having captured Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city, were spotted cheering by an armored vehicle on a highway near Azaz in the north on the 1st of the month, as they expanded their offensive. The rebels’ capture of Aleppo has dragged the Syrian civil war back into a complicated conflict with external intervention. Russia is conducting airstrikes to support the Syrian government forces, while Iran and Turkey are also taking diplomatic measures.
The Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allied forces, after mostly seizing control of Aleppo, have launched an attack on the area around Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, located 140 km south of Aleppo. They are also strengthening forces to the north, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization. It estimated that the rebels have claimed dozens of villages located between Aleppo and Hama, such as Khan Shaykhun and Maarrat al-Nu’man.
The HTS is based in Idlib, a northwestern city near the Turkish border, and it has recently expanded its influence by taking over Aleppo. Russia, supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime, conducted airstrikes on Idlib and Aleppo on the 30th and 1st, killing at least 12 people in Aleppo and nine in Idlib, including civilians, according to AFP.
The HTS launched a sudden offensive on the 27th and took majority control of Aleppo by the 30th, marking the first time Assad’s government forces have been completely expelled from Aleppo since the onset of the Syrian civil war. After the civil war erupted in 2011, Aleppo became a fierce battleground where government and rebel forces each held parts of the city until 2016 when Assad’s government forces, with the help of Russian airstrikes, captured it. This turned the tide of the civil war in favor of the government, but losing Aleppo is now a significant blow to Assad’s regime.
Regional powers have also started to move actively. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, supporting Assad’s government, visited Damascus and met with President Assad, affirming Iran’s strong support for the Syrian government and military, according to Iranian state media. Assad emphasized the importance of support from allies and friends in confronting attacks by foreign-backed terrorists. Araqchi also met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara.
Turkey is supporting the rebel forces that captured Aleppo. According to Bloomberg, Turkish officials have said that the rebels’ offensive was initially aimed at stopping recent government attacks on rebel areas, but it expanded as government forces retreated. The rebels’ offensive began after President Erdoğan announced plans to create a safe zone along the Syrian border and to push Kurdish forces, seen as separatists by Turkey, out of the area.
The rebels’ offensive started on the 27th, coinciding with a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Exploiting the distraction of Hezbollah, Iran, and other Syrian allies by the Gaza conflict, and Russia’s entanglement in the Ukraine war, the rebels launched their offensive with Turkish support. There is analysis that Russia is displeased with Turkey’s double play, supporting the rebels during the Israeli-Hezbollah truce.