Observers say Syrian rebels ‘control most of the city’

According to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), rebels in Syria have taken control of “large parts” of the country’s second largest city, Aleppo.

Russia launched airstrikes in areas of Aleppo on Saturday night for the first time since 2016, observers added.

SOHR said more than 300 people – including more than 20 civilians – have been killed since the attack began on Wednesday.

It was the biggest offensive against the Syrian government in years and the first time rebels against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have advanced on Aleppo since the army forced them to retreat in 2015. 2016.

Military sources told Reuters news agency that Aleppo airport and all roads leading into the city were closed.

Rebels were able to take “large parts of the city” without encountering significant resistance, SOHR said early Saturday.

A spokesman told the BBC there was “no fighting” as Syrian regime forces withdrew.

“The city council, police station, intelligence office – all empty.

“This has never happened before.”

Earlier on Friday, government forces said they had regained positions in several towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, following an attack launched by HTS and allied factions. on Wednesday.

Video posted on a channel linked to the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) appeared to show rebel fighters sitting in vehicles inside the city.

BBC Verify has geolocated the footage to the western suburbs of Aleppo.

More than half a million people were killed in the civil war that erupted after the government suppressed pro-democracy protests in 2011.

A range of armed groups fighting Assad’s government – including jihadists – have taken advantage of the chaos to seize territories.

The Syrian government – with help from Russia and other allies – subsequently recaptured most of the lost areas.

Idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold, is mostly controlled by HTS, but Turkish-backed rebel factions and Turkish forces are also stationed there.

According to SOHR, Syrian and Russian aircraft carried out 23 airstrikes near Idlib on Friday.

The UK-based monitoring group, using a network of sources on the ground in Syria, said four civilians were killed and 19 others injured in the Russian attacks.

According to Russian news agencies, the Russian military said it bombed “extremist forces”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed support for “the Syrian government to quickly restore order” and said the country’s sovereignty was under attack.

On Friday, a statement posted on a rebel-linked channel said: “Our forces have started entering the city of Aleppo.”

Videos verified by the BBC showed armed men running in the streets about 7km from Aleppo’s medieval citadel in the city centre.

Another clip verified by the BBC shows groups of people carrying luggage leaving the area near Aleppo University. That video was recorded 3 kilometers from the location where HTS-affiliated media said rebel forces had entered the city.

Aleppo resident Sarmad told AFP he could hear “the sound of rockets and shelling day and night”.

“We fear war will break out and we will have to leave our homes again,” the 51-year-old said.

The United Nations deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, David Carden, said he was deeply worried by the impact of escalating hostilities on civilians.

“Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as eight years old,” he said.

Fighting in Idlib has largely subsided since 2020, when Türkiye and Russia, Syria’s key ally, brokered a ceasefire that blocked a government effort to retake the province.

But on Wednesday, HTS and its allies said they launched the offensive to “deter aggression,” accusing the government and allied militias of escalation in the area.

Analysts say one reason they are advancing so quickly is because Syria’s allies, Iran and Hezbollah, have been weakened by Israeli attacks in the region.

Additional reporting by Lina Sinjab in Beirut and Richard Irvine-Brown, Merlyn Thomas and Sofia Ferreira Santos and Paul Brown in London.