Syria: What’s happening in Aleppo?
Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and its allied factions were able to enter several areas in the city of Aleppo, after their significant advances over the past two days in its countryside, in a surprising and unprecedented manner.
Photos and videos showed a large number of faction members entering the areas of New Aleppo, West Zahra’a, Martini and Hamdaniya, without the great resistance that was expected from the Iranian and Lebanese militias supporting the regime forces.
The past two days have witnessed large-scale displacement from these areas, as the residents in some areas of New Aleppo said that Government forces prevented many from leaving, and required those who insisted on leaving to leave without a car.
Syrians have had many interpretations on social media, and no interpretation has achieved absolute consensus.
Some say it’s a “Turkish-Russian” agreement, others talk about a complete collapse of the “Axis of Resistance” that led to this result, and others have gone so far as to preach the division of the country.
Meanwhile, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and other Syria opposition factions within the so-called, “Operation Deterrence of Aggression” were able to control 20 villages, towns and sites in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside’s on the third consecutive day of ongoing clashes between the factions and the government forces.
“They were also able to enter five neighborhoods in Aleppo city, namely al Hamdaniya, New Aleppo, the 3000 Apartments suburb, al Jamiliya, and Salah al Din, in Aleppo city with large numbers of fighters after carrying out two suicide operations and violent clashes that took place around the city following the control of the Scientific Research Center.
These are the first neighborhoods that the factions have entered since 2016.
The attacking forces were also able to control the city of Saraqib in the southern Idlib countryside, after violent battles and intensive ground preparation by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and the factions.
The Khanaser road, which is under government control, witnessed heavy traffic due to cars wishing to leave the city before the factions took full control of it, with reports that Syrian army forces had temporarily closed it.
According to the London based, director of the Syrian Observatory, Rami Abdul Rahman, “HTS is leading the military operations with the participation of some factions that defected from the Turkish backed Syrian National Army, and if the progress remains as it’s now, within days things will return to how they were 5 years ago”.
A video showed the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, Abu Muhammad al Julani, “leading the battle over the phone, and talking about the beginning of the entry of fighters into the city of Aleppo”.
In conjunction with what is happening in Aleppo, where Russian and Syrian air force aircraft have disappeared from its airspace.
According to Rami Abdul Rahman, “23 raids by Russian and Syrian warplanes were launched on the city of Idlib and several towns and villages in the Idlib and Aleppo countrysides.
For its part, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, “the recent attacks by the Syrian regime on Idlib have reached a level that harms the implementation of what was agreed upon in Astana”.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry added that she calls for a halt to the Russian-Syrian attacks on Idlib, and continued… The clashes in Syria are an undesirable escalation”.
While field news was absent from the regular media, the Saudi Press Agency said that the Saudi Foreign Minister received a call from his Syrian counterpart, in which they discussed the latest developments in the region.
In a related context, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the United States and Britain of causing chaos in Syria by supporting armed and terrorist groups.
Zakharova claimed that Moscow is committed to supporting Syria and its people, stressing the importance of preserving its independence and sovereignty, adding that Syria represents a basis for ensuring security and stability in the region.
