Government airstrikes in Idlib on Sunday (December 1, 2024) killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Syrian military rushed in reinforcements and struck Idlib city Sunday (December 1, 2024) in an attempt to push back insurgents from advancing farther after seizing Aleppo and surrounding strategic locations in an adjacent province in a surprise offensive.

The insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over most of Aleppo on Saturday (November 30, 2024) and claimed to have entered the city of Hama. There was no independent confirmation of their claim.

The swift and surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syrian President Bashar Assad and raises questions about his troops’ preparedness. It also comes at a time when Assad’s allies — Iran and groups it backs and Russia — are preoccupied with their own conflicts.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travels to Syrian capital Damascus later Sunday (December 1, 2024). He told reporters that Tehran will back the Syrian government and army. Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in calls with Assad expressed their solidarity with Damascus.

Turkey, a main backer of Syrian opposition groups, said its diplomatic efforts had failed to stop Syrian government attacks on opposition-held areas in recent weeks. Turkish security officials said a limited offensive by the rebels was planned to stop government attacks and allow civilians to return, but the offensive expanded as Syrian government forces began to retreat from their positions.

The insurgency, led by Salafi jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and which includes Turkey-backed fighters, launched their offensive on Wednesday (November 27, 2024) with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the Idlib countryside before moving toward Hama province. In Aleppo province, they captured a strategic town that lies on the highway linking Aleppo with Damascus and the coast.

Rebel commander Col. Hassan Abdulghani said that despite the government counteroffensive, his fighters were making gains in Aleppo. He says they took control of Sheikh Najjar, also known as the Aleppo Industrial City, Aleppo’s military academy and the field artillery college.

Abdulghani said 65 Syrian troops were taken prisoner in eastern Aleppo.

Elsewhere, he said the insurgents advanced in the Idlib countryside, putting all of the province under their control.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria said the shock push by the rebels poses a risk to regional security and called on resuming diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

“I have repeatedly warned of the risks of escalation in Syria, of the dangers of mere conflict management rather than conflict resolution,” Geir Pedersen said in a statement. He said the reality is that no Syrian party or grouping of actors can resolve the conflict via military means.

According to Syrian state news agency SANA and a war monitor, the army overnight pushed back insurgents in the northern countryside of Hama province.

Syrian state media said government resupply included heavy equipment and rocket launchers while Syrian and Russian airstrikes targeted weapon depots and insurgent strongholds.

Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government reinforcements created a “strong defensive line” in the northern Hama countryside. Syrian state television claimed government forces had killed nearly 1,000 insurgents over the past three days, without providing evidence or details.

Government airstrikes in Idlib on Sunday (December 1, 2024) killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. Among the targets were the Aleppo Hospital University in the city center, though there was no word of casualties.

The insurgents vowed to push all the way into Damascus, but life in the Syrian capital remained normal with no signs of panic.

In his first public comments since the start of the offensive, released by the state news agency Saturday (November 30, 2024) evening, Assad said Syria will continue to “defend its stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters.” He added that Syria is able to defeat them no matter how much their attacks intensify.

The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war. After appearing to be losing control of the country to the rebels, the Aleppo battle secured Assad’s hold on strategic areas of Syria, with opposition factions and their foreign backers controlling areas on the periphery.

Opposition forces take control of areas outside Aleppo, Syria, on Friday (November 29, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

Syrian government troops battled insurgents inside the country’s largest city, Aleppo, for the first time since 2016, while warplanes targeted rebel supply lines on the city’s edge, state media reported Saturday (November 30, 2024).

Insurgents broke through government defense lines in Aleppo on Friday (November 29, 2024) and entered the city’s western neighborhood with little resistance. The insurgents launched their shock offensive in Aleppo and Idlib countryside on Wednesday (November 27, 2024) and wrestled control of dozens of villages and towns along the way, including a strategic town south of Aleppo.

The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper reported airstrikes on the edge of Aleppo city, targeting rebel supply lines. It posted a video of a missile landing on a gathering of fighters and vehicles, in a street lined with trees and buildings.

Twenty fighters were killed in the airstrikes that targeted rebel reinforcements, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country’s unresolved civil war. Aleppo residents reported clashes and gunfire, and some were fleeing the fighting.

Schools and government offices were closed Saturday (November 30, 2024) as most people stayed indoors, according to Sham FM radio, a pro-government station. Bakeries were open.

In social media post, the insurgents were pictured outside of Aleppo citadel, the medieval palace in the old city center, and one of the largest in the world. In cellphone videos, the insurgents recorded themselves having conversations with residents they visited at home, seeking to reassure them they will cause no harm.

State media reported that a number of “terrorists,” including sleeper cells, have infiltrated parts of the city. Government troops chased them and arrested a number who posed for pictures near city landmarks, state media said.

On a state TV morning show Saturday (November 30, 2024), commentators said army reinforcements and Russia’s assistance will repel the “terrorist groups,” blaming Turkey for supporting the insurgents’ push into Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

Russia’s state news agency Tass quoted Oleg Ignasyuk, a Russian Defense Ministry official coordinating in Syria, as saying that Russian warplanes targeted and killed 200 militants who launched the offensive in the northwest on Friday (November 29, 2024). It provided no further details.

Aleppo has not been attacked by opposition forces since they were ousted from eastern neighborhoods in 2016 following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran, and its allied groups.

The attack on Aleppo followed weeks of simmering low-level violence, including government attacks on opposition-held areas. Turkey, 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 offensive came as Iran-linked groups, primarily Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battles at home. A ceasefire in Hezbollah’s two-month war with Israel took effect Wednesday (November 27, 2024), the day the Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria during the last 70 days.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said the insurgents have seized control of large parts of Aleppo and Idlib countryside.

The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after 2011 protests against President Bashar Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.

Russia and Iran and its allied groups helped Syrian government forces reclaim control of the city that year after a grueling military campaign and a siege that lasted for weeks.