AMMAN: The Russian and Syrian air forces bombed rebel-held northwest Syria near the border with Turkiye on Thursday to push back a rebel offensive that captured territory for the first time in years, Syrian army and rebel sources said.

Rebels led by fighter group Hayat Tahrir al Sham on Wednesday launched an incursion into a dozen towns and villages in northwest Aleppo province controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed fighter group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions launched a surprise attack on the Syrian army.

The attack was the biggest since March 2020 when Russia, which backs Assad, and Turkiye, which supports the rebels, agreed to a ceasefire that ended years of fighting that uprooted millions of Syrians opposed to Assad’s rule.

In its first statement since the surprise campaign, the Syrian army said it had inflicted heavy losses on “terrorists” who had launched a “large attack on a wide front.” The army said it was cooperating with Russia and unnamed “friendly forces” to regain ground and restore the situation to what it was.

Iranian general killed during clashes

Rebels advanced almost 10 km from the outskirts of Aleppo city and a few kilometres away from Nubl and Zahra, two towns where Hezbollah has a strong militia presence, an army source said. They attacked al Nayrab airport east of Aleppo, where pro-Iranian fighters have outposts.

Rebels say the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air forces on areas in southern Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army, which they said was building up troops near front lines with rebels.

Turkish security sources said on Thursday that the rebels initially launched a limited operation after attacks by Syrian government forces, and expanded the operation after government forces abandoned their positions. The Turkish sources said that the rebels’ movements remained within the boundaries of a de-escalation zone in Idlib, which was agreed in 2019 by Russia, Iran and Turkiye with the aim of reducing hostilities between the rebels and government forces.

A Turkish defence ministry source said Turkiye was following recent developments in northern Syria closely, and had taken precautions to ensure the security of Turkish troops there.

Death toll

The toll “in battles ongoing for the past 24 hours has risen to 132, including 65 fighters from HTS”, 18 from allied factions “and 49 members of regime forces”, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

Some of the clashes, in an area straddling Idlib and Aleppo provinces, are less than 10 kilometres southwest of the outskirts of Aleppo city. HTS, led by Al Qaeda’s former Syria branch, controls swathes of much of the northwest Idlib area and slivers of neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.

An eyewitness reported heavy, uninterrupted clashes east of the city of Idlib since Wednesday morning, including air strikes.

A military statement carried by state news agency SANA said that “armed terrorist organisations grouped under so-called ‘Nusra terrorist front’ present in Aleppo and Idlib provinces launched a large, broad-fronted attack” on Wednesday morning.

It said the attack with “medium and heavy weapons targeted safe villages and towns and our military sites in those areas”.

A general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was also killed in Syria on Thursday during fighting between Syrian government forces and HTS group, an Iranian news agency reported.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024