In a shock offensive, insurgents breach Syria's largest city for the first time since 2016

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

Last edited Sat Nov 30, 2024, 12:17 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: Associated Press

Insurgents breached Syria's largest city Friday and clashed with government forces for the first time since 2016, according to a war monitor and fighters, in a surprise attack that sent residents fleeing and added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars.

The advance on Aleppo followed a shock offensive launched by insurgents Wednesday, as thousands of fighters swept through villages and towns in Syria's northwestern countryside. Residents fled neighborhoods on the city's edge because of missiles and gunfire, according to witnesses in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country's unresolved civil war, said dozens of fighters from both sides were killed.

The attack injected new violence into a region experiencing dual wars in Gaza and Lebanon involving Israel, and other conflicts, including the Syrian civil war that began in 2011.

Aleppo has not been attacked by opposition forces since they were ousted from eastern neighborhoods in 2016 following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/syria-attack-clashes-aleppo-9c07da6f83036f34d4b18a479de9d085

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The group behind this push into Aleppo/Halep is called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and Wikipedia has a lot to say about them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahrir_al-Sham

The world press is full of stories about this today, though most seem based on the AP report. One article I found interesting came from a Christian source with local contacts, the Pontifical Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), which is a reminder that Aleppo is a multi-cultural, multi-religious city. Having Sunni Muslim jihadis attacking must be, to put it mildly, unsettling:
https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Aleppo-parish-priest-reports-shelling%2C-closed-schools%2C-fears-after-rebels-launch-an-offensive-62010.html

FOLLOW-UP: 30 NOVEMBER
"Syria's military announces Aleppo troop withdrawal to prepare counteroffensive"
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrias-military-announces-aleppo-troop-withdrawal-prepare-counteroffensive-2024-11-30/

"Syria: Russian strikes hit Aleppo amid rebel takeover"
https://www.dw.com/en/syria-russian-strikes-hit-aleppo-amid-rebel-takeover/a-70926443

[Igel]

1. Probably not good news for the non-Sunnis in the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahrir_al-Sham

https://www.odni.gov/nctc/terrorist_groups/hts.html

The celebrations may be for Asad's being forced out of the city but a lot of Sunnis won't like what's going to replace his rule there. They've learned to keep their heads down because they prefer to keep them on.

[speak easy]

2. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are rivals to al-Qaeda loyalists and ISIS.

They have taken military action against both but are no more pluralist than either groupings.

[ck4829]

3. Interesting