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Syrian authorities closed Aleppo’s airport and all roads leading to the city on Saturday, three military sources told Reuters, as rebels loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said they had reached the city center.
Opposition fighters, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, made a surprise march through government-held towns and reached Aleppo this week, nearly a decade after being forced out of the northern Syrian city.
Robert Ford, who was the last US ambassador to Syria, said the attack showed the Syrian government’s forces were “extremely weak”. In some cases, he said, they appear to be “almost diverted.”
Russia, a key ally of Assad, has promised Damascus more military aid to defeat the rebels, two military sources said, adding that new hardware would begin arriving in the next 72 hours.
The Syrian army has been told to follow “safe withdrawal” orders from key rebel-held areas of the city, three army sources said.
Rebels began their offensive on Wednesday, and by the end of Friday, the operations room representing the offensive said they were sweeping through various districts of Aleppo. According to eyewitnesses, residents fled the outskirts of the city because of rockets and gunfire.
WATCH | Militants begin offensive in Syria:
A UN official says at least 27 civilians have been killed in recent days after a militant group reported to be the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched attacks on towns and villages in Aleppo province.
They are returning to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran and regional Shiite militias retook it after rebels agreed to retreat after months of bombing and siege.
The commander of the Jaish al-Izza rebel brigade, Mustafa Abdul Jaber, said their rapid advance this week was fueled by a lack of Iranian-backed manpower in the wider Aleppo province. Iran’s allies in the region have suffered several blows at the hands of Israel as the Gaza war unfolds in the Middle East.
Opposition fighters have said the campaign is in response to increased airstrikes by Russian and Syrian air forces against civilians in rebel-held Idlib in recent weeks, as well as to prevent any further attacks by the Syrian army.
Darren Kalifa, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group and an expert on Syrian factions, said the rebels had been signaling for some time that they were ready for an offensive. But no one expected the forces to advance quickly on Aleppo.
“It’s not just that the Russians are distracted and stuck in Ukraine, but the Iranians are distracted and stuck elsewhere. Hezbollah is distracted and stuck elsewhere, and the regime is absolutely cornered,” she said.
“But the element of surprise comes with how quickly the regime collapsed.”
Opposition sources in contact with Turkish intelligence said Turkey had given the green light for the offensive.
But Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said Turkey was trying to avoid more instability in the region and warned that recent attacks had undermined de-escalation agreements.
The biggest attack in recent years
The attack is the biggest since March 2020, when Russia and Turkey agreed on an agreement to de-escalate the conflict.
Syrian state television denied on Friday that rebels had reached the city and said Russia was providing air support to the Syrian military.
The Syrian army said it was fighting back the attack and had inflicted heavy losses on rebels in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib.
David Carden, the UN’s deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian crisis, said: “We are deeply concerned about the situation in north-west Syria.
“Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including eight-year-old children.”
Syria’s state news agency SANA said four civilians, including two students, were killed in Aleppo on Friday when rebels shelled university student dormitories. It is not clear if they are among the 27 dead reported by a UN official.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow considers this rebel attack a violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
“We are in favor of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the region and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible,” he said.
