In Syria, jihadists and their allies took the “major part” of Aleppo after an offensive against the government forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said this Saturday 30 november. “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel factions have taken control of most of the city” located in northern Syria, as well as “government buildings and prisons,” the report said. NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has an extensive network of sources in Syria.
The death toll from this offensive, launched on Wednesday, rose to 311 dead – 183 HTS fighters and their allies, 100 soldiers and members of pro-government forces and 28 civilians, according to the OSDH. Syrian government media reported four civilians killed in a student residence in Aleppo bombed by HTS. The OSDH added that “the governor of Aleppo and the commanders of the police and security services have withdrawn from the city center.” The Russian airstrikes during the night coincided with “the arrival of significant military reinforcements” (rebels) in the region, added the NGO.
End of relative calm
Jihadist fighters and their allies entered Aleppo on Friday, after two days of an offensive that ended years of relative calm in northwest Syria. During the civil war that broke out in 2011, and which left more than half a million dead and displaced millions, HTS, dominated by the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, took control large swaths of Idlib province, and neighboring territories in the regions of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia.
The Syrian regime regained control of a large part of the country in 2015 with the support of its Russian and Iranian allies. A ceasefire sponsored by Moscow and Ankara, after a regime offensive in March 2020, made it possible to establish a precarious calm in the northwest of the country.