The Syrian army said dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels who swept into the city of Aleppo, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.
The rebels also took control of Aleppo airport, according to a statement by their operations room and a security source.
Two rebel sources also said the insurgents had captured the city of Maraat al Numan in Idlib province, bringing all of that area under their control.
The fighting revives the long-simmering Syrian conflict as the wider region is roiled by wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where a truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday.
Acknowledging the rebel advance, the Syrian army command said insurgents had entered much of Aleppo.
The state-run Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of the Enemy Parties in Syria said missile and bomb strikes against the rebels had targeted “militant concentrations, command posts, depots, and artillery positions” in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. It claimed about 300 rebel fighters had been killed.
The Syrian military command said militants had attacked in large numbers and from multiple directions, prompting “our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defense lines to absorb the attack, and preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers”.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air force had carried out strikes on Syrian rebels in support of the country’s army.
The strikes followed what was the boldest rebel assault in years in a civil war in which front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, once known as the Nusra Front, is designated a terrorist group by the US, Russia, Turkey and other states. Assad is a close Moscow ally.
In Washington, the White House National Security Council said it closely monitored the situation and had been in contact with regional capitals over the last 48 hours.
NSC spokesperson Sean Savett said Syria’s refusal to engage in a political process and its reliance on Russia and Iran had “created the conditions now unfolding, including the collapse of Assad regime lines in northwest Syria.”
Savett said the US had nothing to do with the offensive led by “a designated terrorist organization” and “urged de-escalation … and a serious and credible political process” under the 2015 UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which laid out the steps for a ceasefire and political transition.
The war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced many millions, has ground on since 2011 with no formal end. However, most major fighting halted years ago after Iran and Russia helped Assad’s government win control of most land and all major cities.
