- Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, has fallen from government control for the first time since the conflict began more than a decade ago.
NEW YORK: The United States said on Sunday that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had lost control of Aleppo due to his dependence on Russia and Iran.
Syria’s “dependence on Russia and Iran,” as well as its refusal to move forward with the 2015 peace process outlined by the UN Security Council, ” created the conditions that are now developing,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement.
He added: “At the same time, the United States had nothing to do with this offensive led by Hay’at Tahir al-Sham (HTS), a designated terrorist organization. »
Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, has fallen from government hands for the first time since the country’s conflict began more than a decade ago, a war monitor said on Sunday, after a surprise advance by the rebels.
The rebel alliance has launched a lightning offensive against Syrian government forces backed by Iran and Russia since Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighboring Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah group. supported by Iran after two months of total war. .
The Syrian army – backed by Russian air power – recaptured rebel-held areas of Aleppo in 2016, a city dominated by its iconic citadel.
Damascus has also relied on Hezbollah fighters to reconquer parts of Syria lost to rebels at the start of the war that began in 2011 when the government crushed protests. But Hezbollah has suffered heavy losses in its fight against Israel.
Jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions “control the city of Aleppo, with the exception of neighborhoods controlled by Kurdish forces,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory human rights, based in Great Britain.
For the first time since the start of the conflict, “the city of Aleppo escapes the control of the Syrian regime forces,” said Abdel Rahman.
Several districts of northern Aleppo are predominantly inhabited by Syrian Kurds under the authority of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF is the de facto army in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northeastern Syria. It is a US-backed force that led the fight against Islamic State group jihadists before the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria in 2019.
In addition, the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions took Aleppo airport and dozens of neighboring towns on Saturday after invading most of Aleppo, the OSDH said.
Tanks seized
Moscow, an ally of Damascus, responded with its first airstrikes on Aleppo since 2016.
Before this offensive, HTS, led by the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, already controlled large swaths of the Idlib region, the last area beyond the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, in the north. western Syria.
HTS also held part of the neighboring provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia. Allied rebel factions backed by Turkey also took part in the offensive.
The fighting left more than 370 dead, most of them combatants but also at least 48 civilians, according to the OSDH, which has a network of sources in Syria.
The Observatory said rebel advances were met with little resistance.
The OSDH said on Sunday that the army had reinforced its positions around Hama, Syria’s fourth largest city, about 230 kilometers south of Aleppo, and sent reinforcements to the north of the surrounding province.
The Syrian Defense Ministry said army units in Hama province “reinforced their defensive lines with various fire assets, equipment and personnel”, fighting to prevent a rebel advance.
Rebels captured dozens of towns in the north, including Khan Cheikhoun and Maaret al-Numan, about halfway between Aleppo and Hama, the Observatory said.
Some welcomed the arrival of the rebels.
“Yesterday was my wedding but I didn’t hand out sweets,” Khaled al-Youssef said, holding up pastries next to a car. “I am distributing them today to celebrate the release of Maaret al-Numan.”
A “weak” government
But on Sunday in Idlib, bodies were lying in a hospital and vehicles were set on fire in the street, AFP images showed, after what the OSDH described as Russian airstrikes.
Airstrikes also took place on Saturday in Aleppo, where an AFP photographer saw charred cars, including a minibus. Inside a car, a woman’s body lay slumped in the back seat with a purse next to her.
The Russian airstrikes on parts of Syria’s second city are the first since 2016.
Aaron Stein, president of the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said: “Russia’s presence has been significantly reduced and rapid-response airstrikes are of limited utility.”
He said the rebels’ advance is “a reminder of the regime’s weakness.”
Another analyst, Dareen Khalifa of the International Crisis Group think tank, said the rebel alliance saw its action as a “broader regional and geostrategic shift,” including when “the Iranians are weakened.”
Syria’s “dependence on Russia and Iran,” as well as its refusal to advance the 2015 peace process outlined by the UN Security Council, “have created the conditions that are currently developing,” said US National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.
The United States maintains hundreds of troops in northeast Syria as part of an anti-jihadist coalition.
Diplomacy
Iran’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left Tehran for Damascus to deliver what state media said would be a message of support for the Syrian government and armed forces.
Araghchi again called the surprise rebel offensive a conspiracy by the United States and Israel and promised that “the Syrian army will win once again.”
Assad has vowed to defeat “terrorists” no matter the scale of their attacks.
“Terrorism understands only the language of force, and this is the language with which we will break and eliminate it, regardless of its supporters and sponsors,” he said.
Russia, whose air support has previously proven instrumental in helping the Syrian government regain lost territory, joined Iran in expressing “extreme concern” over its ally’s losses.
“The strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic was reaffirmed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a summary of a call between its top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, and Araghchi.
Since 2020, the rebel enclave of Idlib has been subject to a truce brokered by Turkey and Russia, which has largely lasted despite repeated violations.
Lavrov also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Saturday and agreed on the need to “coordinate joint action to stabilize the situation”, Moscow said.
