The Syrian military announced on Saturday that rebels had seized significant portions of Aleppo city during an offensive that left dozens of soldiers dead, prompting the army to redeploy. This marks one of the most significant challenges to President Bashar al-Assad in years. The unexpected assault, spearheaded by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has disrupted frontlines that had remained largely static since 2020, reigniting conflict in a region near the Turkish border.
According to the army’s statement, the insurgents employed “medium and heavy weapons” to capture several villages and towns around Aleppo, inflicting “heavy losses” on military personnel. The military added that preparations were underway for a counteroffensive to reestablish state control in the affected areas.
Government forces also launched air strikes overnight, hitting rebel supply lines to the city, according to the Aleppo-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The air strikes reportedly hit the western outskirts of Aleppo and other locations around the province, killing 20 fighters, according to the monitor.
By late morning, images posted on social media showed insurgents patrolling the streets of central Aleppo and posing with rebel flags outside police headquarters and the Aleppo Citadel, the medieval palace in the center of the old city. Insurgents reportedly filmed themselves talking to residents and reassuring them they would not harm them.
In a video posted on YouTube, a rebel insurgent in a camouflage jacket is seen addressing civilians in one of the main squares in Aleppo, telling them that their mission is to fight for the liberation of the rest of the city. He adds that the entire city will be freed in a matter of days.
A witness told Al Jazeera that there were no clashes in the city center and that there was light traffic while insurgents fired in the air in celebration. Insurgents were also seen congratulating each other in public, and the pro-government Al Watan newspaper reported that some were distributing sweets to people in the street.
The Kremlin said that it considered the advance by HTS a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and called for the Syrian army to regain control over the region as soon as possible. Asked about unconfirmed Russian Telegram messages that Assad was flying to Moscow for talks with Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We support the Syrian authorities in restoring constitutional order as quickly as possible.” The Observatory said rebel fighters had captured the town of Dadikh and taken two others in Idlib province, cutting off a key highway connecting Aleppo and the rest of the country’s northwestern region. Its director, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the group could also move westwards into the Syrian desert and take control of several other towns. It remained unclear how the insurgents had made their way into the city of two million people without significant resistance. The advance was a severe blow to the army, which was able to retake complete control of the city in 2016 after a long siege.
