Syrian rebels blaze towards Aleppo in shock offensive
Syrian rebels have seized “highly strategic” areas in a shock offensive that is blazing its way towards the city of Aleppo and has already claimed the lives of 142 fighters, according to Qatar’s London based news agency MiddleEastEye.
On November 27th, the same day the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect, Syrian rebels launched a surprise operation that within a day has taken swathes of territory with Assad’s government forces pushed back after intense clashes.
Lt Col Hassan Abdul Ghani, a rebel leader of operation “Response to the Aggression” said: “These areas were Iranian and Syrian military bases used to launch aggression against our areas, killing civilians and forcing them to leave their homes”
“Our forces have destroyed 12 enemy tanks, and the operation will continue until we eliminate the forces targeting our land,” he said.
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The operation, which was launched from areas controlled by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, about 10km to the west of Aleppo city, is said to be a retaliation against government shelling of rebel-held areas.
Col Ghani said: “Our operation aims to liberate our land from the Syrian and Iranian forces and allow its people to return to their homes safely.”
While some rebel groups affiliated with the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army have joined the fighting, the majority have refused, and a senior Turkish security source told MiddleEastEye that Turkey had actually tried to prevent the offensive from happening.
The source said that the operation had aimed “to restore the boundaries of the Idlib de-escalation zone, which were originally agreed upon in 2019 by Russia, Turkey and Iran”, but after Syrian government forces began to flee their positions, the limited operation was expanded.
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Iranian news agency SNN reported the death of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Kioumars Pourhashemi in Aleppo by “terrorists” linked with Israel, but did not give any further details.
Since the 2011 Syrian revolution, Aleppo has become a flashpoint for exchanges between government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, and rebel militias hoping to seize control of the historic city and establish it as their capital.
The city is half ruined, with many of its inhabitants forced into refugee camps within northern Syria, while others have fled abroad.
Its estimated around 13 million people in Syria have left their homes since the war began.
MiddleEastEye
