Syrian rebels take control of most of the city of Aleppo

CNN
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Syrian opposition forces have seized control of much of the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, after a lightning advance killed dozens of government soldiers, posing a major challenge to President Bashar al-Assad.

A rebel alliance launched a surprise attack this week that swept east through villages outside the city, reigniting a largely static conflict that had been largely static for years. It is the first time Syrian rebels have entered Aleppo since government forces regained control during the civil war in 2016.

Rebel fighters had taken control of large parts of the city by Saturday morning, according to footage geolocated by CNN.

Rebel fighters were spotted in key locations. In a video, armed men can be seen waving an opposition flag in a central square and chanting “God is great” in Arabic.

Another clip shows rebels in the city’s citadel, which is also in the center of Aleppo. At least one man in the clip is armed as he says, “We are the first to arrive and the first to win.”

The rebels also claim the city’s airport. CNN cannot verify this.

The only exception appears to be the northeastern part of the city, where some neighborhoods remain under the control of government troops and militias allied with Iranian militias.

Rebel forces have imposed a 24-hour curfew starting at 5 p.m. local time on Saturday to “ensure the safety of the city’s residents and protect private and public property from tampering or damage.”

According to the Syrian Defense Ministry, dozens of soldiers were killed in the Aleppo offensive. It confirmed that rebel forces had entered the city, but claimed that they were “unable to establish strong positions” and that reinforcements were arriving in preparation for a counter-offensive.

It appears that the advancing rebels encountered little resistance from the Syrian army. Several Aleppo residents told CNN that there was minimal fighting in the city’s urban areas.

In response to the rebel advance, the Russian Air Force launched an air offensive on Friday against armed Syrian opposition forces in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, Russian state media reported.

Videos from the western part of the city showed several deaths after an air strike on Saturday. It is not known whether a Syrian or a Russian aircraft carried out the attack.

The video showed at least seven bodies and people with severe burns.

Residents said Kurdish forces had also expanded their control over some Aleppo neighborhoods. Before this week’s attack they held two Kurdish neighborhoods, but have now moved into areas formerly controlled by the Syrian regime.

The Kurdish militia known as the YPG has a history of conflict with other rebel groups in northern Syria.

According to a video analyzed by CNN, there was already a clash between members of the rebel alliance and Kurdish fighters inside the city on Saturday. Part of the rebel coalition now says it wants to launch an offensive against the Kurdish groups that hold parts of the northern province of Aleppo.

The rebels are part of a newly formed coalition called the Military Operations Command that includes a wide range of opposition fighters, including Islamist factions and moderate groups once backed by the United States.

The coalition was announced on Wednesday ahead of the attack on Aleppo, saying it was responding to escalating attacks by the Syrian government and Iranian militias. But the timing is also crucial as Syria’s main backer, Russia, focuses on Ukraine and its other major ally, Iran, which has been left behind by Israeli strikes on Syria and its proxy network.

The offensive is the first major conflict in years between the Syrian opposition and the regime of President Assad, who has ruled the war-torn country since 2000.

The Syrian Civil War began during the 2011 Arab Spring, when the regime suppressed a pro-democracy uprising against Assad. The country plunged into full-scale civil war when a rebel force called the Free Syrian Army was formed to fight government troops.

Since the 2020 ceasefire agreement, the conflict has been largely dormant, with low-level clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.

More than 300,000 civilians have been killed and millions of people displaced across the region in more than a decade of war, according to the United Nations.