Aleppo bombings: Syrian and Russian strikes amid rebel offensive
Syrian and Russian fighter jets conducted airstrikes at dawn on Saturday, targeting multiple neighborhoods in Aleppo, northern Syria, after armed opposition groups, supported by Turkey, seized control of significant parts of the city following four days of fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), as reported by EFE.
SOHR noted that these were the first bombings in Aleppo since 2016, when forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad regained control of Syria’s second-largest city, supported and covered by Russia, with assistance from Iran-affiliated militias.
According to the NGO, the airstrikes targeted the Al Furqan neighborhood in western Aleppo, a major entry point for many fighters from the Islamist alliance, the Levant Liberation Organization, and other armed factions supported by Ankara.
SOHR, based in the United Kingdom and having a wide network of field collaborators, reported that insurgents “took control of most of the city,” including government institutions and even prisons, on the fourth day of their offensive to capture Aleppo.
Moreover, the rebel Military Operations Administration announced on its Telegram channel that there was a “major collapse within the ranks” of the Syrian armed forces, whose troops “withdrew from several strategic positions” in Aleppo province and the neighboring Idlib province, the main stronghold of the opposition in Syria.
The provincial governor and Syrian troops “withdrew from the city center” and fled to the Al Safira area, east of Aleppo, according to SOHR, which estimated that at least 311 people had died since the start of the insurgent offensive, which began at dawn on November 27.
Among the casualties were 183 Islamist fighters and pro-Turkish factions; 100 members of the Syrian army and pro-Iranian militias allied with Damascus; and 28 civilians who lost their lives in both Aleppo and Idlib, the vast majority due to Russian airstrikes, according to the NGO.
These events occur as Turkey seeks to re-establish relations with Damascus, although al-Assad insists that Ankara must withdraw its troops from northern Syria and stop supporting opposition groups for relations to be restored, which broke down 13 years ago at the start of the Syrian civil war.
Additionally, the rebel offensive began on the same day the ceasefire took effect in Lebanon, following Israel’s heavy strikes on the pro-Iranian Shiite Lebanese group Hezbollah, both in Lebanon and Syria, where Hezbollah maintains a significant presence and is one of Damascus’ main allies.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
